After Election, BOE Winners Focused on Improving District

Moorestown’s newest school board members may come from varying backgrounds—a former teacher who did virtually no campaigning, a 19-year-old EMT and an attorney who was the race’s only incumbent—but they all have the same goal in mind.

Sheryl Sawin, a former college professor who came in second with 3,762 votes, said friends and acquaintances had been urging her to run for years. Still, she was “pleasantly surprised” with her victory, considering she did almost nothing in the way of traditional campaigning.

“It’s not my M.O,” she said. “I was resolutely against that … I just felt it wasn’t productive to align myself politically.”

Some had speculated politics would play a part in this year’s school election after it was moved from April to November, but Sawin said it was her status as a “plugged-in” member of the community and a strong social media push—thanks in part to her daughters, all students in Moorestown schools—that helped get her elected.

Fellow winners David Weinstein and Brandon Pugh—who came in first and third respectively, with 3,922 and 3,420 votes—were more active campaigners than Sawin, spending on lawn signs and advertisements, but sounded decidedly apolitical when reached for comment Wednesday.

Weinstein, the race’s lone incumbent, said he’s looking forward to a renewed focus on education in his second term, after spending much of his first tackling fiscal challenges with the rest of the board.

“Not that we’re out of the woods, but we’re better (financially) than we were three years ago,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being able to look at curriculum and education better. We have to find a way to help our teachers more.”

Pugh, who graduated from Moorestown High School less than two years ago, will become the youngest-ever member of the board of education when he’s sworn in in January—and possibly the youngest school board member in Burlington County history as well.

The 19-year-old Pugh said every one of his fellow candidates in the race had a unique perspective to offer. And despite sporadic attacks on Pugh due to his age, he viewed his youth as an advantage because of his ability to present a more student-centric point of view.

“Just like any elected official, you’re never going to have everybody like you,” he said, adding that his age shouldn’t affect his ability to work with his fellow board members or other school officials.

Despite her background in education and stated focus on curriculum and instruction, Sawin insisted she would not come into office with a particular agenda, only a deep desire to improve the district at every level.

“I want my skills and talents to be put to use where they’ll be most effective,” she said. “I don’t have a pet project. I didn’t run on an agenda. I’m more of a watchdog … As Brandon is a good sounding board for the students, I can be a good sounding board for the educator’s experience.”

Besides focusing on education reform, Weinstein—who described himself as a “fiscal watchdog”—said he also wanted to work on improving the board’s relationship with the faculty.

“I’d like to not just be the best high school in South Jersey, or the best high school in the state,” he said, “I’d love to say we’re the best public high school in the country. That’s not a lofty goal; that’s a reasonable goal. We just have to push ourselves harder.”

*Again, results are unofficial until all absentee and provisional ballots are counted.