Robert Oliver
Position Sought: Vernon Township Board of Education
Age: 60
Political history: I have been a regular attendee at BOE meetings for five years and I have over 30 years of experience in corporate financial management. I have also volunteered for several years on the Township Financial Advisory Committee so I am familiar with government accounting and the unique problems it presents.
Occupation: I am retired. Before retiring I was Strategic Unit Controller for Bayer Healthcare and Schering AG and prior to that, Manager, Finance and Analysis for Berlex Inc, US subsidiary of Schering AG.
Education: Accountancy, Greenwich University, London, England. Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants for England & Wales (Equivalent to Certified Public Accountant in US)
Family: Widowed but in a relationship
Top three issues1. Appointing a new superintendent as soon as possible, after 15 months, the Board of Education has yet to start seeking input from key members of the community and the faculty. We have an outstanding faculty, why haven’t they been co-opted to help with this and even to help improve our test scores or how we approach Common Core and PARCC? Further and connected to the above, I feel the Central Administration recently has been too involved in individual school’s affairs. 2. In 2013, Vernon spent $73.4 million in operating expenses. That is $10.6 million more than Sparta to educate 37 more students. Higher spending is sometimes predicated by necessity. For the rest the BOE should look at the benefit versus cost of this spending. I am happy to pay for results even if intangible, but we should compare and cooperate with other school districts in all areas of education. This would help everyone improve. Unfortunately, the Board of Education to date has refused to get behind such a process. 3. Chronic absenteeism, our district according to the latest New Jersey Department of Education data available, is the worst in Sussex or Morris County. This is not a new issue but it has not yet been properly addressed by the Board of Education, it needs to be a priority as it impacts all students not only those who are absent.