Election 2023: Reham Taha, Holmdel Board Of Education

HOLMDEL, NJ — Reham Taha is one of four candidates seeking three full-term seats on the Holmdel Board of Education in the Nov. 7 election.

Taha is running as a team with two other candidates, Alison LoPresti and Anthony Libecci.

Current Board of Education President Peter Reddy is also a candidate, seeking re-election to the board.

Two other current board members whose terms expire this year but are not seeking re-election are Eileen Briamonte and Linda Zhang.

Taha says of her team (designated Parental Rights & Education), "We are looking forward to working for our community and providing our students the best educational standards and resources to help them achieve their full potential academically."

In these profiles, candidates provide voters with background about themselves and their positions on the issues, as they see them.

Read more from Reham Taha:

Background:
Candidates were asked to provide their professional or volunteer information, school board experience, campaign links, and personal background.

My name is Reham Taha, Holmdel resident at Stevens Drive. I am a mother to three wonderful children, Lana, 17; Ameer, 16; and Leya, 11.

I have lived in Holmdel since 2010. My husband and I moved here for the wonderful family environment and of course the excellent school system.

I am currently a stay-at-home mom with a B.A. degree in Political Science. I try my best to give back to the community and volunteer where I can -whether it be at local food and clothing drives, as well as helping out in school activities and sports functions when needed.

My most recent community involvement was last spring when I co-hosted a community dinner during the month of Ramadan, welcoming our Holmdel neighbors to break-fast together with the Muslim community. It was a great success bringing our community leaders and neighbors in one place celebrating together the Muslim community of Holmdel.

Top issues:

Candidates were asked about the important issues in their district, and how the school board can address them.

One of the first things I would like to work toward is looking for new ways where we can save with our district budget while making sure all our students’ needs are met for overall smooth school operations. I am certain that there is a lot to learn, but I am ready to dive right in.

On the academic front, one of the main things we need to look into is making sure students are receiving age-appropriate instructions in the classroom, specifically with their health education curriculum.

It is extremely important that we prioritize our children’s best interest and protect them from being exposed to particular health education materials that may be too advanced for them to comprehend at a young age. I am a firm believer that parents should always have the upper hand on deciding when and how to discuss certain sexual education materials with their children and that the schools should help in making sure of it.

Moving on to one of the many positive notes in our district, I am very pleased with the outline of our district’s five-year strategic plan and cannot wait to assist in seeing it succeed according to plan if elected.

Academic excellence is what we pride ourselves with here in our district and it is important we continue to strive to improve our standards for the better. I have no doubt that such goals will be achievable, especially with the dedication and commitment of the hard working faculty and staff members working in our district.

Policy 5756:

Candidates were asked if they wanted to comment on state Policy 5756, which provides guidance regarding transgender students, including communication with parents. Some districts in the state are repealing or amending the policy. (Holmdel's school board is expected to repeal the policy this month.)

Obviously everyone is talking about Policy 5756 and it is very clear that this policy doesn’t support the kind of relationship we strive to have here between our amazing Holmdel staff and the parents.

I strongly believe our current board needs to rescind this policy, especially now that we know it was merely guidance and not mandatory. Policy 5756 was designed with presumption of bad intent on parents. Prior to this policy, our schools successfully maintained an open line of communication with parents about issues concerning their children, including parents of our transgender students here in Holmdel.

The success of our kids is strongly influenced by the support of the parents and the faculty working together for the best interests of the students. Therefore, parental involvement is essential for the wellbeing of our kids and should never be up for debate. As a parent, I absolutely want to be involved in any challenges my child who is a minor, will potentially face and wouldn’t want them to receive guidance without my knowledge or consent regarding their gender identity. It is just plain common sense! We will work to make sure all our kids have an inclusive and safe environment in our schools, but most certainly in partnership with the parents.

Candidates for Holmdel Board of Education: (Full term; vote for three)

• Peter Reddy
• Alison LoPresti: Parental Rights & Education
• Anthony Libecci: Parental Rights & Education
• Reham Taha: Parental Rights & Education

Note: Candidates who have not received their request for profile information from Patch should check their spam folders or can contact Pat McDaniel at [email protected] for the email with candidate questions.