Statement to questions from Independent News 10/16

Elizabeth Urbanski, Candidate for Holmdel BOE

Statement for Independent News

I am running for school board to improve transparency, accountability and excellence across the whole district. As the school district focusses on data driven analysis, the parents of Holmdel need to be fully informed of everything we are learning and the outcomes of this. School decision making that affects our children can be opaque and I feel strongly that parents are better advocates when they are informed advocates. I will push for accountability to parents. In recent years, we have experienced issues involving school safety and communication to the parents and children on this has not been as fully forthcoming as it should have been. Timeliness and clear communication are essential. Another concern is the standards that are applied when making critical decisions about our children's educational options, as these choices have life-long effects. I will push for greater accountability not only on how decisions are made but also to study the outcomes of those decisions. The most recent US News and World Report article places us at 106th in the state out of a list of 350. We need to understand what the reasons for this ranking are and what needs to be done to raise our score.

Candidate Biography

My grandfather purchased property in Holmdel in the 1930’s as he was attracted to the unique, rural, character of what was then a much smaller town. My family has stayed in this community for the same reasons. We reside on our family’s organic tree farm in Holmdel, which is where I grew up and where we are raising our children. I attended Smith College and have a Masters from both NY University and Columbia University. I run my own professional art advisory firm, Elizabeth A Urbanski Associates, Inc. from Holmdel. I am on the board of Trustees of the Monmouth County Historical Association and have taught Art History at Brookdale Community College.