Shawn McCloud

A simple question: Why? Why would you want to sit on the Board? What is motivating you to run for this position?

We have a good school system in Hammonton, but I believe there are always opportunities to do things better, especially for our students and faculty. I am motivated to be a school board member that can effectively work with other board members to provide everyone in our town with greater accountability, better communication, and more transparency. To this end, I believe we should have a school board that is proactive, engages with, and listens to, all stakeholders throughout our community to encourage much greater participation in meetings and activities. Also, I do not have any family members employed within our school district, so I can serve on our school board and other committees without any limitations.

2. How well do you feel like you know the town and the school community? In other words, have you lived here long? Did you attend school here, or do you have children in the community?

My wife and I are extremely proud to call Hammonton home. Both of our daughters attend our schools (HHS and HMS) and we are all involved in many activities throughout our great community; as two examples, my wife teaches dance at a studio in downtown Hammonton and I volunteer my time in the summer months as the administrator of the Hammonton Stingrays Swim Team.

3. What qualities and expertise do you have to offer in this role?

I am very familiar with school district operations. I am licensed by the NJ Department of Education as a School Business Administrator and hold a doctorate degree in business administration. For the past eight years I have been working in higher education and I currently work at Wilmington University where I lead and manage a graduate-level business program. Prior to working in higher education, I worked for more than 20 years with very large organizations overseeing budget, analysis, and strategic planning functions.

4. What is the Hammonton school district doing right for its students? Are there areas that may be in need of improvement?

We do have a good school system in Hammonton, and we do many things very well, but it does not mean that we cannot strive to do better. I do see opportunities to enhance our academic offerings and go far above, and beyond, state curriculum requirements. We have an obligation to do our best to provide opportunities and resources to thoroughly prepare all students for the future.

Our school board should be working with school administration, faculty, and students in engaging stakeholders throughout the community in long-term, strategic planning initiatives (i.e., continual open meetings, forums, and dialogue with a goal to gather as much intelligence as possible). Our school board and administration should be goal-oriented with a constant focus on delivering a quality and scope of education designed for the future, in terms of where students can be 10, 20, or more years from today, by aiming to meet the needs of a workplace and economy of the future. Here in Hammonton, we have a municipal airport which could lend itself to aeronautical and related education programming; we are in the Pinelands which could lend itself to ecological and sustainability education programs; we have plenty of farms which could lend itself to agricultural education programs; while we could be preparing students for myriad other vocational, technical, and related careers. We need to think outside-of-the box, leverage all available technologies, and move to become an innovative school district that goes way beyond expectations for our students, whether college-bound or not, as this would provide long-term benefits for our students/graduates, as well as our community and economy.

I believe this type of growth can happen by having a school board that is proactive, engages with, and listens to all stakeholders to encourage participation in meetings and activities: community input into decision-making is critical to improvement.

5. Are you open to the ideas and suggestions that students of Hammonton High School may bring to Board of Education meetings? If so, do you believe student involvement will improve our education system and environment?

I am open to all ideas and suggestions from the students of HHS, this ties back to two tenets of my campaign platform with respect to our school board: better communication and more transparency. Again, I believe we should have a school board that is proactive, engages with, and listens to, all stakeholders to encourage participation in meetings and activities. Moving beyond HHS students I am an advocate for having faculty representation at school board meetings, as input and insight from both students and faculty could be incredibly valuable to improving our schools.

6. In your opinion, what are the most important skills a student should possess in order to be successful when they graduate high school?

We have an obligation to do our best to provide opportunities and resources to thoroughly prepare all students for the future. As a community, and as a mission for our school board, we need to ensure that when we look back at our graduates, we can honestly say that we did all that we could have possibly done for each student during their time at HHS to enable each to be successful, either academically or professionally. Let’s go beyond the basics and become an innovative school district that exceeds expectations for students, whether college-bound or not – our school district should be, and could be, the envy of all other school districts nearby to us in southern New Jersey.

7. Tell us about something in your life that fostered a passion for schools and education.

I am a steadfast believer in the ability of education to create opportunities and transform individuals and lives. Both of my parents were school teachers in Toms River, while my dad was an assistant principal of a high school there for the last half of his career, and my wife is a school teacher in Bridgeton. I learned quite a bit about school operations and being a teacher from simply listening and talking with my parents, as well as through the concerns and experiences shared with me by my wife. Now, having two children in our in our school system, and listening to each, gives me an even greater appreciation for our schools, education, and our teachers. As most parents’ desire, I want my children to have the best experiences possible, and as a community we have an obligation to do our best to provide all opportunities and resources available to thoroughly prepare all our students for the future.

8. What else would you like us to know? Are there any questions that you wish we asked and would like to answer?

This is my first time running for public office and, no matter the outcome of the election, this has been a wonderful experience. Over the past three months I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet and speak with so many people and get to know our community much better. I have a gained a much deeper appreciation and respect for anyone that wants to help their community by running for, or holding, any public office.