Elliott has served eight of his nine years on the Board on its Buildings & Grounds Committee, and improving school facilities remain a priority. “There is not enough money to fix all we need to do,” he says. “We have to be thoughtful and productive and focus on the issues that are going to have the most long-term effect, the issues that we have identified with the community.”
“Everyone’s taxes are too high,” he adds. “I live here, I know that. I get a tax bill too. But you have to think what’s going to be right for the schools, and what’s right for the schools is ultimately going to be right for all of us.”
Elliott is one of four candidates running for two seats in the Board of Education election. The ballot includes fellow incumbent Michael Unis, and challengers Jim Day and Judy DiNapoli. The election, which is the first contested BOE board vote that Verona has had in many years, is scheduled for Tuesday, November 5. The Verona Conference of SCAs will be hosting a Board of Education Candidates Forum on Wednesday, October 30, at 7 p.m. in the Verona High School Library.
While Elliott spends a lot of time thinking about infrastructure, he says that there are other challenges like special education programs, which are a big cost center for the district. “These are some of our most deserving students,” he says. “We have to make sure we have the right programs for them. When we can do things in district, that’s the best scenario. When that’s not appropriate, we have to make sure we find the right scenario outside the district.”
Elliott says he wants to find more ways to share services with the Township and expand the BOE’s current relationship with town government. He also stresses that he is committed to listening to all members of the community, and that he is prepared to change his views on issues as he learns from those conversations–and developments in the world beyond Verona.
He cites the schools’ so-called 24/7 policy, which can impose penalties for student misconduct outside of school hours, as one example. “It seemed an appropriate thing to do at the time,” he says of the policy’s implementation, “but it didn’t work out exactly as we thought it would.” After a lawsuit against Ramapo Indian Hills High School for a similar policy, the Verona BOE convened a panel of school officials and residents to look at making changes to our policy. “Clearly the community position had change as well,” Elliott says. “We have to be able to alter our policies to reflect the needs of Verona.”
Elliott promises that the listening won’t stop once the campaign is over. “A board member has to always be listening,” he says. “I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing: Taking the calls and e-mails, listening and trying to find a positive solution.”
