Campbell – 20 Years and Wants More

Within no personal agenda but with a strong love for both Highlands and education, Irene Campbell said she is seeking a term on the new Henry Hudson Board of Education because she wants to see the progress that has been made there continue.

“Things have improved greatly since I first got on the board but there is always room for improvement,” she said. “Even though I don’t have children at the school right now, I feel like all those kids are mine.”

Campbell is running for the one three-year term open to a Highlands representative for the new board in the November election, vying for the seat against Suzanne Thomas, both longtime residents of the borough.

Born in New York, Campbell has lived in Highlands 58 years, first as a summer resident with her parents as a child, then full-time after marrying her husband Dan, a lifelong resident. The couple have three grown daughters, both educated in the local school system, and two grandchildren.

A member of the Highlands Board of Education since April of 2000, now a member of the appointed regionalization board earlier this year, Campbell takes pride in being part of the team that negotiated teacher contracts for the new tri-school district, more difficult than previous years, she admitted. That is because the new contract which will cover all teachers in Henry Hudson Regional, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands Elementary schools involved working with board members from the two other schools and staff and the team had to create a single contract for the teachers in all three schools rather than the previously three different contracts.

Now vice president of the appointed regional board, Campbell said her experience in working on the contract team for more than 20 years as a member of the local board of education was a benefit in creating the new contract which she termed a huge accomplishment.

On the subject of regionalization with Sea Bright, Campbell said she “definitely “would like to see Sea Bright join the Tri District, “but not before they break their ties with the Shore Regional/ Oceanport district.”

The candidate said not only the boards of education but also the borough have spent “entirely too much money on lawyer fees, money that could have gone to our kids. Things have to be done right. The financial outcome has to be fair to both Atlantic Highlands and Highlands,” she said.

Regionalization has always been a hot topic throughout her two decades on the board of education, Campbell said. She recalls that 16 years ago she was appointed to a committee by Carol Morris, the Monmouth County superintendent, to discuss shared services and regionalization. It was a time when the three independent districts in the two towns shared everything possible.

But to see them become a single district this year is “awesome” for many reasons. Each school is able to keep its own uniqueness, some staff are shared by all three schools so will know the children from elementary through high school.

There is a shared director of curriculum and child study team, things are done the same way in each school, and building projects are being completed to ensure all three remain in good shape. “It has been a long road to regionalization and I am very proud that I was a part of it and would like to continue to see it all through.,” the candidate said.

Campbell is also happy that the Highlands school had the new cupola built last year and air conditioning has been installed in the school gym, two major benefits for the elementary school.

An authorization specialist at Robert Wood Johnson Health, and former market manager at the Highlands Farmers Market, Campbell also has a long and distinguished history as a volunteer for numerous causes in Highlands.

She is a former Girl Scout troop leader, Highlands Girl Scout organizer, summer reading program organizer, class mom and PTO member who held various PTO official positions. At Henry Hudson, she was a band parent, raising money for uniforms and serving as a chaperone for many band trips.

More recently, she is a member of the Municipal Alliance for Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, and two years ago was named Volunteer of the Year by the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse ( GCADA). She is also vice president of the Highlands Historical Society and a library steward for the free libraries in Highlands.

When she ran for her most recent term on the Highlands school board Campbell said she did it to continue her advocacy for children and to ensure they receive the best education possible. But, she added, “I realized that I could not do things alone. I was part of a team that worked together. Through the years I have worked with many different board members with different opinions, but all had one thing in common…doing the best for the children.”

Over the years of being a board member, Cambell said she has seen many improvements, particularly in parent participation in all three schools, volunteerism by parents which is very good better than she have ever seen it and the band parent group at Henry Hudson as well as the Admirals Athletic Club which give so much support to the student activities in those fields.

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