Moorestown BOE Candidate: 'In My Character to be Involved'

Kimberly Kersey, a candidate for the Moorestown Board of Education and former Mount Holly councilwoman, said she's always felt drawn to public service.

"It's just kind of in my character to be involved in the community I live in," she said.

She spent three years on the town council in Mount Holly—where she was also vice president of the township's Urban Enterprise Zone and was involved with Main Street Mount Holly—before resigning and moving to Moorestown in 2011 shortly after her 2-year-old son was born.

Kersey, who also unsuccessfully ran for Burlington County freeholder in 2009, said her family moved to Moorestown, in large part, for its school system—which is also what led her to run for the board.

She acknowledged the difficulty of speculating on specific strategies or policies since she’s “not privy to everything the board does,” but said, “The board, like a lot of public entities, needs to get a hold of the district’s finances. They need to make some very hard decisions.”

Kersey believes her experience both as a former elected official and an attorney—she graduated from Villanova Law School and practiced law for 17 years—would be an asset as a member of the school board.

She mentioned cooperative purchasing, more shared services, and “outsourcing when it’s practical, streamlining when it’s not” among the possible methods for maintaining fiscal responsibility.

She also spoke of the need to improve the contract negotiation process with the union and a desire to focus on the use of technology in the classroom.

“It’s the way our kids are learning these days,” Kersey said. “Our kids need to compete not only nationally, but also in a global market.”

Kersey is seeking one of three open school board seats, alongside candidates Al Panzarella and Joe Ruccolo and incumbents Kathy Goldenberg and Matt Simeone.

For more information on Kersey, visit her Facebook page.

Polls open at 6 a.m. Nov. 5. Don’t where to vote? Check our handy election primer to find out (check the bottom of the article for voting districts and corresponding polling places).