My Story
I am a proud Mountie and parent with a deep passion for K-12 public education and a lifelong connection with and commitment to the Montclair Public Schools. I believe that public schools can and must strive to be an engine for greater equity in our society, supporting all children in reaching their potential as educated, well-rounded and engaged members of their communities.
My family moved to Montclair when I was five years old. I attended Watchung, Glenfield and Montclair High School, graduating with the awesome class of 1989. My brother Eric graduated with the pretty good class of 1993. My mother Carolyn was a kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Montclair Public Schools for 23 years at multiple schools and a proud member of the Montclair Education Association. My father Joe is an architect who served multiple terms on the Montclair Zoning Board of Adjustment and was on the project team for the renovation and expansion of Glenfield in the early 1980s.
Because of my love for the Montclair community and its public schools, my wife Beth and I chose Montclair when we were ready to raise our own family, and have been Montclair homeowners since 2009. Beth is a school counselor at Teaneck High School. Our daughter Marlee is a 9th grader at Montclair High School, and our son Xander is a 6th grader at Glenfield. Both came up through Nishuane and Hillside, each starting out in the very same Nishaune kindergarten classroom where my mother had earlier finished her teaching career. We rounded off our family in 2020 when we adopted Taffy, a rescue from the mean streets of Memphis.
Professionally, I am a lawyer who has dedicated the lion’s share of my career to the field of K-12 public education. From my time as a law clerk on the New Jersey Supreme Court serving as my Justice’s primary research clerk for the Abbott v Burke V school funding equity case, through my years as Auditor General for the New York City public schools, Business Administrator/Board Secretary for the Montclair Public Schools, and now Director of Enterprise Risk for the New York City School Construction Authority, I have gained skills and experience in K-12 public education governance, finance and operations strategy and execution, compliance, internal audit and risk management, facilities planning, maintenance and capital projects, safety and security, technology, transportation, and food service.
Since my time as an employee with the Montclair Public Schools, I have remained actively engaged as a parent volunteer. I am an administrator of the Montclair Moms, Dads and Parents Facebook Group, a member of the NAACP Education Committee, a PTA co-president at Glenfield and former PTA president at Hillside, a member of the Montclair PTA Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and Finance and Infrastructure Committee, and I recently finished two years as the Montclair PTA Council Vice President for Committees. I was also active on the District Reopening Committee last summer, and I regularly attend meetings of the Montclair Board of Education. In the course of all of this work, I have sought to share my knowledge about and love for the Montclair Public Schools with all of the stakeholders in our district, because I believe informing and empowering all stakeholders to engage effectively with the district and the schools ultimately helps to drive greater equity, inclusion, opportunity and achievement for all students.
I love these schools and the Montclair community and want to be a part of making them the best they can be for all students.