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The “Meet the Candidates” series continues to spotlight individual residents who seek a seat on the Asbury Park Board of Education.

There are three three-year terms and two one-year terms up for contest on the Nov. 5 ballot, making a majority of the seats on the nine member board available. A total of nine candidates are in the running for the five spots. Full-term candidates are Connie Sue Breech, Arva M. Council, incumbent Nicolle D. Harris, Corey Lowell, and incumbent Qzeena Taylor. One-year unexpired term candidates are write-in hopefuls Calvin Anderson and Carol Jones, and incumbents Kenneth Saunders, Jr. and Felicia Simmons.

Today’s report features Connie Sue Breech. Breech is running on the “Team Vitamin C” ticket with Calvin Anderson, Carol Jones and Corey Lowell.

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Connie Sue Breech is one of five candidates seeking a three-year term on the Asbury Park Board of Education.

Breech is a 14-year resident and has been a member of the Asbury Park Police Department for the past 13 years. She previously served the Monmouth County Sheriff’s office and, prior to that, in the United States Army.

The same year Breech moved to Asbury Park she began organizing the Asbury Park Toy Drive. The drive collects coats, clothing, toys and monetary donations that are used to provide area kids with gifts during the holidays.

“I wanted to do more than just drive around and execute warrants,” she said. “I wanted to be more involved in the community. Living and working in the town gives you the opportunity to do that.”

Now in its 14th year, the number of families Breech serves has grown considerably. Last year she received 400 applications representing around 3000 kids—more than five times the initial 80 or so families the drive benefited in the first year. She has since applied for nonprofit status and has trademarked the name.

Breech has earned several community awards through her work with the drive, including the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce’s Carousel Award for Public Official of the Year [pictured above, during the reception], the Hispanic Affairs “Serving Families” award, and a 2005 Mayor’s Ball award for community service.

In 2009, Breech was elected to the school board but resigned after a year and a half due to personal and professional reasons.

“I needed to make the decision to step aside for a while,” she said.

Her decision to run again comes because she believes there is unfinished business to be done and the board has lost its focus on the children.

“Children don’t seem to be the priority, which is what they should be,” she said.

Much like her fellow running mates, Breech sees declining enrollment and an increasing drop out rate as major problems in the district. She attributes the recent upswings in crime to the fact that there are little opportunities for school-aged children in the community who don’t have a diploma.

“A lot of the kids are dropping out—too much too early—and there’s nothing for them out there,” she said.

Between middle school and high school is were Asbury Park loses a lot of students who drop out or transfer out to other districts in the area, according to Breech. To combat this, she would like to see more extra-curricular activities brought back to the district and perhaps the addition of a vocational school.

“Funding is a big problem—I understand that,” she said. “But there are vo-tech programs for kids that run in the afternoon at minimal costs. Kids would do that if they could learn a trade.”

“There is no reason these kids can’t succeed,” Breech said. “They need guidance. Give them some options and you never know what might happen.”

Parent involvement is another issue Breech would like to see addressed by the school board, along with taking a look at the current curriculum, greater accountability for teachers and maintaining the stability of the school board.

“To consistently not have a quorum is terrible,” she said, in reference to the six regularly scheduled school board meetings that have been canceled this year due to a lack of board members’ attendance. “What kind of representation does that show to the children if all board members can’t get together to make a decision?”

Breech would also like to bring student representation back to the school board in the form of a student liaison—a position that existed during her previous service but does not currently—so that the board can gain perspective from the student’s point of view.

“We need to talk to the children,” she said. “To ask them what their educational goals are and what they need to keep them in school.”

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