BOE President Walker: Change Means Opportunity

When Julia Walker and her family chose to move to town, it was "because of the Westfield schools."

Nine years later, the school board has chosen her ….as its leader.

And as the new president of the Westfield Board of Education, and board member since 2003, she doesn't take her responsibility lightly.

"Our goal, as a Board of Education, would be to maintain our level of excellence in a growing field of regulation," said the mom of two. "The greatest concern going forward is how to maintain the level of excellence with almost no state aid."

Walker, an attorney who grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, said she didn't grow up with the concept of "home rule" in the schools. "In the South, they're organized on a county system. There were a quarter of a million students in the 'system.' "

"Personal attention," she added, didn't exist. "I didn't even know we had a school board when we were growing up. When you're organized on a county system, it's so different."

And, she added, that's exactly why she relishes her own school system. "My appreciation for the Westfield school system comes from the fact that I didn't grow up with the personal attention and satisfaction from the school system."

Walker said she cherishes the idea of "home rule" and welcomes input from the community. "I'm the one who wants parents to come to meetings. I love that sort of individual participation in the system."

And she said while the idea of "home rule" is so drastically different from the schools in her native Kentucky, the warm feeling of her own home town is so similar.

Westfield's "friendly, welcoming" nature and its "strong sense of community" reminds her of where she comes from. And she couldn't be happier with where she is.

"I'm done. I'm staying here," she said. And that means her husband of 20 years, Jon, her son Braden, 15 and daughter Elinor, 13 are staying too.

Walker said one big draw for her and her family was that Westfield was a "walking community."  They originally relocated to New Jersey from Fort Lauderdale for Jon's job in New York.

"In Florida ..it's not a walking place," she said. "Ninety percent of the homes in Florida have their own pool ..but the way it's designed is for privacy. You don't know you neighbors."

She said Westfield was just the opposite.

"We got to Westfield ..and it was instantaneous how you feel that people walked here. The big front porches, the downtown …we not only picked Westfield because it was a walking community, but we picked our house because we could walk everywhere."

"It's part of the charm of this place," she said.

She said having that neighborhood feel is "priceless," adding "it's friendly. We couldn't be happier here."

The Walkers moved here July, 2001. Two months later, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred, they instantly bonded with their neighbors.

"That day, the neighbors went around and we all got our grills and tables and chairs and had dinner on the street …and waited for everyone to come home so that no one was alone." That's when she thought "I'm done. I'm staying here, because that's what community is."

It took only two years for her to run for the school board. And she was motivated by a personal reason.

In Florida, there were 30 kids in Braden's kindergarten class. When they moved the next year, there were 18 kids in his first grade class. By the time he was in third grade at Wilson School, budget cuts were threatening to increase class sizes.  "That's how I got involved," said Walker. "I was hooked. It is, I think, a rare experience to get to see that kind of decision making up close and personal. That's what happens at school board meetings."

Her first year, she ran for a one year unexpired term. "There were nine of us that year running," she said, adding it's been years since there's been such a turnout. Walker's only other competitive race was her successful 2010 bid for a third full term, which featured four candidates for three seats.

"My platform really was that I had two school age children (then first and third grade)," she said. "The school board and the superintendent were starting to make decisions that felt to me as if they were changing the core of what Westfield parents wanted in their school system."

"That's why folks get involved, because they want to either protect something or change something. And I wanted to be part of that process."

Walker, the BOE's finance committee chairwoman, said the school system "has changed dramatically" during her years in office.

"Over the seven years, I would think every school board member would agree, the federal and state government both have become more and more involved in the day to day operations of schools. The choices that communities get to make are fewer. Both governments are looking to standardize education. That's an understandable goal in communities unlike Westfield."

She reiterated that more than 95-percent of Westfield High School graduates go to college and most students score above state average on state assessments. "To scoop us up into the 'whole' doesn't make sense to me. We are excelling. I'm not sure why it's necessary that the 'fix' apply to everyone."

"Westfield's not broken. Westfield is excelling. The biggest change in the seven years is annually there is more and more regulation and less money," she said.  

"New Jersey went from a state of what I would now describe as generous state aid to almost no state aid." She added, "Every year I've been on the board, we've watched state aid almost fall flat. Our percentage of state aid was decreasing relative to the size of our budget."

She added, "When you're getting over $5 million versus under $1 million, it seems generous."

Walker presided over the BOE budget process this past year when Gov. Chris Christie cut state aid by $4.22 million or 90.4-percent of the total. This action required Walker and her colleagues to cut a similar amount from the budget in two weeks.

Reiterating previous comments she's made on Christie's budget cuts and proposed property tax relief toolkit, along with the new two percent property tax cap, Walker said she and the board are in a watch and wait period with state officials.

"2010-2011 is going to be a year where we are watching what's happening in Trenton," she said. "This started in March and it's not over yet."  

She added the school funding formula is "dramatically different than it's ever been." She said changes such as funding and budget caps "affect how we do business."

Walker admits there are personal challenges, too, that go along with the job, such as time.  

"It's a lot of information in areas of study … different areas of focus that have to be evaluated every time a decision is made, because nothing is done in a vacuum."

But she said the rewards are even greater. "The biggest (reward) is the people. Between the school board members themselves, the staff, the teachers, the parents …as far as caring about their community and their school district… there can't be anybody who cares any more or any smarter."

"These folks give almost limitless amounts of energy and time and thought and work very hard to do the right thing."

And while she hasn't practiced law since her son was born, there's not much time to spare. Amidst her many hours devoted to the Board of Education, she's an avid tennis player, gardener and cook.  

"The beauty of the system, there is no sort of training ground to being a 'perfect school board member,'" she said. "The purpose is to bring the value system from the citizens of the town to the school system."

She added, "The folks that sit on the school board are a representative of the town as a whole. They bring the priority system."

"The key quality for a good school board member is they ask good questions."

Walker said her goal amidst the changing educational climate is to keep a positive attitude. "It's an opportunity to do things differently," she said. "Any time you have a disruption, it doesn't have to be a crisis. It can be an opportunity."

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