Meet Your School Board Candidate: Denise Rawding of Morris Plains

Morris Plains has four open seats on the school board, with three candidates running:

1. is an incumbent finishing a 3-year term on the board. She is running again, but not for another 3-year term. Instead, she will run for the shorter 2-year term that resulted from the resignation of Mary Beth Stolworthy from the board last year.
2. is the incumbent who was appointed to fill the seat of Mary Beth Stolworthy after her resignation last year. He is now running for a full 3-year term.
3. Denise Rawding is a new candidate running for a 3-year term.
4.  is a write-in candidate who joined the race after the official deadline. Since his name will not appear on the ballot, the only way to vote for him is to enter his exact name, "Douglas McCabe." If there is even a one-letter misspelling, or if you write "Doug McCabe or "D. McCabe," the vote will not be counted.

Each of the candidates was sent a questionnaire by Patch. Exact answers from Denise Rawding appear in italics below.

1. Name, Age: Denise Rawding, 46

 2. How long have you lived in Morris Plains? 12 years

 3. If you are an incumbent, how long have you served and what have you worked on? (Denise Rawding is not an incumbent)

 4. Are your children going through/have gone through district? 1 child currently at Mountain Way School, 2 children currently at Borough School, and  4 children who graduated 8th grade from Borough School

 5. What is your educational background and current job? B.A. in Elementary Education and M.A. in Education: Human Services Leadership from the College of St. Elizabeth, currently a doctorale canidate in the Arts and Letters program at Drew UniversityI am currently employed as a teacher in the Madison School District

 6. Any Past Political Experience? (school board, town council, etc.) I have previously served on both the Morristown and Morris Plains Republican Committees.

7. Any Volunteer Activities? (coach, PTA, etc.) I've coached for the Morris Plains Little League for the past 11 years. I've also coached soccer for the Morris United Soccer Club and the Morris Plains Recreation soccer league.

8. Why do you want to be on the board? I  am passionate about education, and I want to work collaboratively to ensure that the students of Morris Plains continue to receive an excellent education in our changing economic climate.

9. What can you bring to the board? I bring can bring to the board my passion and committment to high quality education, 19 years of experience in education, and a willingness to work together to achieve the common goal of maintaining a fiscally sound and successful school district.

10. What is/are the most important issue(s) facing the district, and what would you do about it/them. One of the most important issues is ensuring a quality education while minimizing the financial impact on residents.