To the Editor:
My name is Adam Sawicki and I am the Vice President of the HVRSD Board of Education. I am the only incumbent running for re-election this fall. If you approve of the direction our schools are taking, and would like to see our District improve while building upon its strengths, I respectfully ask you to please re-elect me.
My background makes me well suited to complement the skills of our Board, administration and staff. My education as an engineer (I hold two aeronautics & astronautics degrees from MIT) trained me to be thoughtful and to make decisions objectively based upon data. That foundation was complemented through my MBA from Villanova University, which gave me business acumen and reinforced the value of teamwork. I have worked for the Boeing Company for over thirty years and have been recognized for my teaching and mentoring skills and my ability to lead diverse teams.
Board members focus their time working on committees; I have served on all five Board committees, chairing 4. Most of my time has been spent as chair of the Education Committee, helping develop the extensive curricular options which align with the depth and breadth of our students’ abilities and interests. Additionally, I have supported social-emotional learning, our recent equity audit, as well as many other initiatives designed to develop the whole child. HVRSD has improved in objective rankings, both in the state and nationally. If you like seeing our schools climb and rate highly, while also seeing our children develop into well-rounded citizens, please re-elect me.
I have served on the Board for nine years and understand the tremendous learning curve associated with overseeing a $90 million budget. I supported keeping our spending down for years as our enrollment declined, and bundling facility expenses into a referendum so they could be financed affordably. I opposed adding over-cap spending to the general fund after the referendum passed, and voted against the 5.27% tax levy increase in 2019 that resulted in HVRSD having the highest per-pupil costs in the County. Subsequently, I am now serving as chair of the Finance & Facilities Committee, championing additional transparency and refining the budget development process, but have far more to do. If you’d like to see continued thorough budget oversight, please re-elect me.
I prioritize educating our children and believe that the key to our success is hiring and retaining the best staff, listening to them, providing them appropriate professional development and treating them well. I believe that we have an abundance of great educational minds in our classrooms, in our administration, and on our Board. If you would like to retain a Board member who trusts our educators yet helps provide additional opportunities for students by bringing business, STEM and leadership skills to the Board, please re-elect me.
A diversity of life, professional, personal and cultural experiences produces the most capable Board of Education. Balancing variety, fresh ideas, and institutional knowledge produces the most robust policy. There are seven school board members that represent Hopewell Township, and if re-elected I will be the only one not serving in their first term. If you believe it is important to include diverse views on the Board along with experience, please vote to re-elect me.
My fellow residents of Hopewell Valley, I have enjoyed serving you but there is far more work that needs to be done and I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to do so. Please vote to re-elect me.
If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Adam J. Sawicki Jr.
