My name is Kathy Purcell, and I am running as an incumbent for the Roxbury BOE along with Dave Faulkner and Caitlyn Barba. We believe in putting “EDUCATION FIRST” in Roxbury schools.

Moving into Roxbury (Succasunna area) in 1993, both my husband and I, through many searches, found our forever home. I, at the time, was an ED nurse in a level one trauma center in Newark, and my husband was on the Newark Police Department. Our ultimate desire was to live in a town that had similar goals as ours and live in a healthy and safe environment with a strong education system. Our goals were matched perfectly, and our four children were all introduced to their first school, Kennedy Elementary. What could have been a better choice? Over the next years, three of our four children graduated from RHS and our fourth one graduated from Morris Catholic HS.

During our years here in Roxbury, and despite working a very busy shift schedule, both my husband and I have given back not only to our church, St. Therese, and our community but also to the district of Roxbury.

We believe in Roxbury and the education our district has to offer. We were very active in many school events: PTA, room parent, Girl Scout leader, school trips, and along with both the town and schools, we were involved in many sports, including soccer, football, baseball, field hockey, and whatever else we were asked to participate in.

This may be one of the main reasons I am concerned that our schools / educators recently may support temporarily withholding parental rights by potentially leaving them out of critical conversations.

My goal is to continue my role as a BOE member for many reasons. I feel I will be an asset to the Board due to my experience over the past six years. The first three years were spent learning how to become a board member by being mentored by my running mate Leo Coakley and my sidekick Ann Colucci. I learned the rules and always voted as I felt was best for the students, staff, and taxpayers of Roxbury School District. Commitment to the board is very important (and yes, time consuming), but that is what we signed up for.

I am proud of the accomplishments I have achieved and how I have voted in crucial decisions, including my vote to abolish policy 5756. As previously stated, I am concerned with staff keeping secrets from parents.
I recently completed my certification as a board member.

I have worked on many committees, including Negotiations, where I was heavily involved in two full rounds of successful ratification of employee contracts in record time. I also served on Facilities, as Chairperson of Personnel and Education, and on the committee to hire a new Superintendent.

One of our proudest and most lucrative successes has been the Board’s hiring of our new Superintendent, Dr. Frank Santora. All we hear from parents, teachers and students is positive feedback.

I hope I can be re-elected and continue to work with Dr. Santora, along with the administrative team, and be an active participant to see where the Roxbury school district will be headed next. I can guarantee it will be a great success!