Fran Rossoff Hopes to be Part of Education Solutions

All hands on deck.

For Morris Educational Foundation member and Morris Township resident Fran Rossoff–running for one of two contested seats on the Morris School District Board of Education on April 17–everyone is needed when it comes to education.

"Our staff does a wonderful job. They have an overwhelming job, especially in the language arts department, and that filters into other subject areas," she said, noting a gap in test scores for those where English is not their first language. "I think the district has been aware of this issue for a long time. Many people have thought there may have been easy solutions, but we have all come to realize there are no easy solutions.

"It's a child by child issue," the member of the MEF Grants Committee said. "The community has to be involved, especially parents. [Recently,] a grant was approved for doing parental workshops, on how to help the child. That's really, really important."

Like fellow BOE candidate, and incumbent Ann Rhines, Rossoff currently tutors at Frelinghuysen Middle School, through a partnership with the MEF and school district.

"Many of them are students that English may not be their first language," she said. "I think this is just one effort that is going to have to be expanded upon. We have to call on everyone we can to support our students. These initiatives will be very important.

"There are only so many hours in the day. We need to use all the resources we have. ... The community has to come together with the schools and be part of the solution. As we all are members of the community, we have to be part of the solution," Rossoff said.

Still, she acknowledges that the school district, and its Board of Education, also have to be mindful of fiscal responsibility.

"Our district does a good job," Rossoff said. "As a board member, I would always want to be part of fiscal responsibility while maintaining a standard of excellence to education. Creative minds are what it's all about.

"I hope to be part of the solutions," she said.