It's about the kids.
It always has been.
Empower. Engage. Educate.
Three years on the board. A referendum that finally passed, delivered under budget and ahead of schedule. A superintendent who is moving this district forward. Let's keep going.
Passed on the first try
The first Southampton referendum ever to pass on its first attempt — built from community input.
Under budget, ahead of schedule
Every project on every metric. The board has said publicly that unused funds go back to taxpayers.
Never above the 2% cap
Every upgrade, program and curriculum addition came in under the state tax-levy cap — no closed schools, no cut programs, no staffing reductions.
What three years on the board actually delivered
My #1 job is the best education for our students. Fiscal responsibility matters because only a sustainable district produces good outcomes — and the most effective solution isn't always the most expensive one.
A referendum that set us up for the next 20–30 years
New field and track, repaving, new boilers, replaced floors, the old bus garage rebuilt as a Humanities Annex, and the infrastructure nobody sees but everyone needs. About 99% complete, fully done by October.
A groundbreaking contract with our teachers and staff
We were losing good people. We negotiated a contract with our local association that delivers fair wages and builds in open lines of communication and accountability between staff, administration and the board — so problems get solved instead of festering.
Real-time data on reading and math, not a year-late state test
Literacy screeners three times a year (more than the state requires), plus IXL and Fountas & Pinnell benchmarking in ELA and math, so teachers can act on where each student is now instead of waiting on delayed NJSLA results. Student growth is trending up.
Hired a superintendent who is moving the district forward
After a period of turnover, I was part of the team that hired Superintendent Megan Geibel. Some doubted the choice. The results speak for themselves.
Live-streamed meetings and NJ's first comprehensive tech-use policies
Pushed loudly for live-streamed board meetings so families can actually watch. Led early technology policy work, including getting ahead on AI in the classroom.
A voice for kids in Trenton — including the ones the system forgets
Pushed school funding and local control to the county and state level, because Southampton's problems don't get solved by waiting for Trenton to notice us. And as a foster and adoptive dad, I advocate for the students who need someone in their corner most: kids in foster care, kids in transition, kids without a stable adult at the meeting. Every child in our district deserves the same shot.
A forever family, a full-time job, and a habit of showing up
I'm the permanent guardian of five kids who came to me through the foster system — my forever family. Over the years I've fostered eleven children, and I count every one of them as mine. It's the reason "it's about the kids" isn't a slogan for me. It's the whole point.
By day I'm the Chief Technology Officer of a law firm. I built that career through mentorship and self-directed learning rather than a traditional degree, and I bring the same approach to the board: ask hard questions, look at the data, find the practical solution.
Before I ran for the board I was a PTA president and a regular face at STRA and district task forces. Today I serve as Vice President of Advocacy for the New Jersey PTA, where I was elected on a platform of practical solutions and measurable outcomes.
The questions people actually ask me
No spin. If you have one that isn't here, send it and I'll answer it here.
Aren't you wearing too many hats — PTA and the board?
The PTA is a separate nonprofit. It isn't taxpayer-funded and isn't governed by the district or the board, and both the School Ethics Commission and the New Jersey School Boards Association have been clear that there is no conflict of interest in serving as a PTA officer and a board member at the same time. In practice, PTA parents are some of our most engaged people — they're in the buildings, they know the teachers, and they bring context to the board table that you can't get any other way. Across New Jersey, the volunteers who fill chronically vacant board seats are very often the same ones who show up for the PTA. I'd rather have both hats than an empty chair.
Where does the referendum stand?
About 99% complete, fully finished by October at the latest, under budget and ahead of schedule on every metric. The board has said publicly that unused funds should go back to relieve taxpayers.
Districts around us are closing schools and cutting programs. Are we next?
No. Southampton has not closed a school, cut a program or reduced staffing, and we have stayed under the 2% levy cap every year even with the referendum work under way. Our referendum was also a fraction of what several nearby districts have asked their voters for. We are fiscally sound and prepared — that isn't luck, it's the point of the last three years.
What's going on with the solar panels?
The referendum included money to remove the array early, because the returns looked bad against what it was supposed to be offsetting. That line drew real pushback — it was one of the loudest objections from people who opposed the referendum. Even after the referendum passed, the board took that feedback seriously, discussed it at length, and decided to stop the early removal and let the contract run to its end in 2028. At that point the cost of removing the panels and restoring the land to its original condition falls on the lessor, not on us. In the meantime we had a neutral third-party firm evaluate the system, because there were conflicting claims about it: the panels have been saving about 89% less than projected, the inverters are obsolete, and the "one-dollar buyout" the district was told about years ago doesn't exist — buying the system would cost real money. When 2028 comes, if the numbers show genuine savings and no buyout cost, keeping the panels stays on the table; otherwise that ground becomes expanded outdoor and recreational space, including a baseball field to replace the worn-out one we took out when the turf field went in. Either way, we'll decide it the way we decided this — with the data, and with the community in the room.
Where do you stand on the parental notification policy?
I get this question a lot, and I'll answer it the way I'd answer it in person. My first job is keeping every student safe, and a student who tells a trusted adult something private about themselves deserves to be handled with care, not paperwork. That said, the picture is changing: courts around the country have been ruling in favor of parental notification, and I expect New Jersey's guidance to be overtaken by those rulings sooner rather than later. What people often miss is that our kids already have real protections that don't depend on this policy at all. A student who feels unsafe can tell a counselor or any staff member; there are structures, including the state's child-protection agency, for the rare case where a child would be in danger at home; and our counselors, psychologists and administrators are already bound by professional and legal obligations to protect students. I'd like the language to give our teachers clearer protection too, because they're mandated reporters and I don't want them exposed. But in Southampton this has always been handled the way it should be — one family at a time, quietly, with the counselor helping a child and their parents get to a conversation everyone feels safe in. I'm not going to let our district get pulled into a national fight that doesn't reflect how we actually treat our kids.
Is this a partisan race?
Not for me. School board seats are nonpartisan, and I run that way — driven by data and what's actually happening in our buildings, not by any party.
Why have you been quiet online since you were elected?
Sitting board members are held to strict School Ethics rules about discussing district matters on social media. I've followed them. Being careful online isn't the same as being absent — come to a meeting, or watch the live stream. I'll also say plainly that I agree with the growing view that board members should be allowed to speak more openly online, so we can hear from taxpayers and families in real time instead of once a month at a microphone. There's a lawsuit pending in New Jersey and bills in the Legislature that would make clear school board members don't give up their First Amendment rights when they take the oath. I'm hopeful that, going forward, I'll be able to talk with you the way I did before I was elected.
Three seats. Three people who put kids first.
We aren't a joint campaign — no shared costs, no committee. I'm backing them because I've watched them work for kids, and I'd do it whether they backed me or not.
Mike Dehoff
A dad who attends more board meetings than any candidate I can remember — asks questions, proposes solutions, and brings real financial acumen.
Leon Carelli
Board President. Three years of results, and a lot left to do.
Faith Lynch
I've worked beside her in the PTA and at STRA and watched her care for and fight for kids. She'll do the same on the board.
Vote lines 1, 3 and 4 on Tuesday, November 3.