Graichen Challenging Incumbent Little for Seaside Heights Seat on Central Regional School Board

Residents in Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Ocean Gate will have a chance to cast a ballot for open seats on the Central Regional Board of Education in Wednesday’s election.

There are no seats up this year for representatives from Berkeley Township or Island Heights for the regional school district slots.

There are two contested races for the three-year terms in both Seaside Heights and Ocean Gate. The Seaside Park candidate, Tracy Mianulli, is running unopposed for a three-year term.

In Seaside Heights, incumbent Frances T. Little, Franklin Avenue, is seeking her third term on the board. She is being challenged by former Township Councilman Michael Graichen.

Little, 54, said she is proud of the accomplishments the Central Regional board has made and would like to continue fine-tuning more sources of revenue for the district, including cell phone towers, solar panel projects and the district's energy saving programs.

"We have a lot of things in the works," she said. "In the last three years, we have done so many things to bring in other sources of revenue."

Little, a 1974 Central Regional graduate, credits schools Superintendent Triantafillos "Tom" Parlapanides for paving the way.

"We put Tom in as superintendent and we've been able to take off," she said.

The current Central Regional school board is a very cohesive unit, Little said.

"It's been a stable board," she said.

Graichen, 65, is a lifelong resident of Seaside Heights. He graduated from and later taught at the Central Regional school district prior to his retirement. Graichen is a former Seaside Heights borough councilman and served terms on the governing body in the 1980s and 1990s.

He listed two reasons for running for a seat on the Board of Education.

The first is the opportunity to work with Parlapanides.

“He is one of the only people that lowered the tax rate in Seaside Heights," Graichen said. "I want to make sure that we can stay on this and keep it moving in the right direction."

This year’s proposed budget's tax levy calls for a decrease of $9.36 or 0.0031 cents per $100 of assessed value on the average assessed home value of $302,035 in Seaside Heights. Seaside Height’s current tax rate for the Central Regional school district is 0.2957 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Parlapanides was a student of Graichen’s, a colleague of his and his “boss,” according to Graichen.

Graichen would also like to see the Seaside Heights elementary school district return to the Central Regional school system.

While middle and high school students attend Central Regional schools, for the past eight years the Toms River Regional school district has had the job of overseeing the Seaside Heights K-6 grade school district.

Toms River Regional provides administrative, maintenance, food and other services to the Seaside Heights Board of Education. 

“It should be back to a school being run by Central,” Graichen said. “I’m looking forward to bringing Seaside Heights back to Central Regional. The bottom line is money. I’m hoping Central can come in even, if not a little lower (than Toms River).” 

But Little said that one-school Seaside Heights elementary school district was never a part of the Central Regional school system and isn't a part of the Toms River Regional School district. The Seaside Heights district contracts out certain services to Toms River Regional, but remains an independent district, she said.

"A lot of people just don't understand it," Little said. "Seaside Heights is not part of Toms River. They don't run the board. We make all the decisions."

Little has served three terms on the Seaside Heights Board of Education. She is currently board vice-president.

Retired after  38 years of teaching, Graichen keeps busy with his Seaside Heights business, Lucky Arcade and Pizza on Kearney Avenue.

Little is vice-president of the Ocean County School Boards Association, a member of the New Jersey School Boards Association Nominating Committee, State Delegate, and the only member of either board who is a Certified Board Member by the NJSBA. She has an associate's degree from Ocean County College and a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy from Richard Stockton State College.

In the race for the Ocean Gate seat, Michael Passeri, 48, Red Bank Avenue, is running against Stephanie Jensen, East Arverne Avenue. The winner of the race will replace board member Francis L. Clayton, who is not seeking re-election due to health problems.

Passeri is a 28-year U.S. Air  Force veteran. He is a graduate of the Air Force Non-Commissioned Officers Academy. He is a member of the Central Regional school district's Superintendent's Advisory Committee, the Central Regional PTA and the Central Regional Band Parents Association. He and his wife have two children and have lived in Ocean Gate for 18 years.

Passeri is not convinced that consolidation of the Central Regional school district with other towns, including elementary schools, will save money.

"This has been a hot issue for a few years now that has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees," he said. "The theory is that if we merge all of the sending districts into Central Regional and create a massive mega-district like Toms River, this will save money. I have listened to both sides of this and nobody has yet to convince me either way. What I do know is that...I  will vote against anything that would compromise the independence of the Ocean Gate Elementary School."

Passeri also questioned how his opponent can adequately represent Ocean Gate, since she is a member of the New Jersey Education Association and cannot participate in contract negotiations.

"I do not believe that the only voice that the Ocean Gate taxpayers get should stand on the sidelines during contract negotiations or other personnel matters," he said. "I would like to be involved in the process instead of just voting on the final product."

Jensen could not be reached for comment.

In Seaside Park, Tracy Mianulli is running unchallenged. She could not be reached for comment.

Incumbent Gail Coleman chose not to seek re-election after serving one term. At her final board meeting she over the “siphoning” of Seaside Park students over to the Toms River Regional School District.

“Board of education officials in Seaside Park have been making agreements with the Toms River School board to get them to accept grades 7-12 to attend Toms River for free," Coleman said in a prepared statement.  "This has created another lawsuit. Their plan is genius. They want all their students to go to Toms River, and would no longer pay toward Central Regional’s school budget, currently $4 million per year. As a Seaside Park taxpayer, I would save close to $2,000 per year in school taxes.”

“Who is stupid enough to believe that would actually happen?" Coleman said after her last board meeting. "There will be just lawsuit on top of lawsuit. It’s causing chaos. On paper it works out, but somebody else is going to have to pick up the … tab.”