Board of Education Candidate: Robert Rofman

The Basking Ridge Patch is featuring video and information on the nine candidates who are competing for three positions on the Board of Education in the April 27 election.

The candidates appeared at a forum at Ridge High School on April 7. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Somerset Hills and two student clubs, Ridge Empowerment for Political Participation and the Economics Club.

The video includes the candidates' introductory statement about themselves as well as an answer to the first question, which was posed by the Ridge students who organized the forum. That question was: "Please explain what your priorities would be for Bernards Township schools if you were faced with the need to cut programs due to budget constraints."

Candidates also were asked to submit background material they would like attached to the video.

Rofman said he has lived in The Hills section of the township since 2006. he is married to Lori Goldberg, a public-school based speech therapist, and one daughter in first grade at Mount Prospect School. He said his parents are retired teachers and his mother-in-law is a retired New Jersey public school principal. 

He holds a bachelor of arts in technical theatre and a bachelor of science, in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., and a masters in mechanical engineering from Manhattan College.

He has been a practicing mechanical engineer designing medical diagnostic instruments for more than 25 years. He said his past employers include Blackstone Medical, Inc, and Nova Biomedical, and he now is a senior staff engineer in the research and development department at  ITC/Nexus Dx in Piscataway. He said in engineering, creative thinking is a requirement to solve technical issues from a cost and practical viewpoint.

"We moved here for the school system," he said. He said that from elementary school through William Annin to the high school, I look for creative thinking to get us through difficult times." 

He is a past board member and president of a large condominium association.

Rofman described his main platform as communication, teamwork and using creative thinking.

"My passion, dedication and belief in the public school system, coupled with my business experience, have led me to run for the Bernards Township Board of Education," he said. He said he wants to be part of the community's voice and translate those ideas into actions. He said he would take a lead "in the community, with and for the community."

"I am a firm believer in communication, teamwork and creative thinking as avenues for problem solving. As an engineer in the medical diagnostic instrumentation field, all of these tools are required for successful products."

He said the value of clear, concise, transparent communications would equal successful results in any project. "When the end result has some required compromises, clearly laying out the reasoning for them allows everyone to understand why they were necessary. However, communication is two-way and listening is a critical aspect. Failure to listen is one reason the current Board voted to cut kindergarten to half-day despite the community’s willingness to raise the extra money.  Now, more than ever, we have to hear the community and work together to find innovative ideas to maintain our standards."

Rofman said he does not believe in closing down ideas from "brilliant" community members.

He said experience has taught him that organizing and working in a collaborative environment is the way to get things done as a part of a team. He said the community and Board of Education need to collaborate and work together to be more successful. "This goes hand-in-hand with communication: listening, understanding and acting as a team for what the community needs and wants for our children’s education is critical to the success of the BOE’s mission," he said.

He said he did not believe in early voting on issues such as half-day kindergarten and an 8-period day at Ridge H.S. based, which he said were based on individual agendas and premature budget assumptions. 

"I know how to manage large budgets while methodically seeing projects through from creation to conclusion. I understand that Bernards Township has a lean budget. We have all but been forgotten by the state over the years. Yet, our incredible teachers function with our children at very high levels. I want to be a part of the vote to save programming while maintaining the standards we expect in our district. Slashing the arts, music and athletics programs out of habit and rigid, same old-same old thinking is not what I am about," according to Rofman's campaign statement.

He said he would "lead by example" as a father in the community who would take part in the community movement for much-needed changes.

"Make the Board of Education our Board of Education again, he said. "The separation of “us” and “them” needs to be remedied using words such as: together, collaborative, our, thank you and we."

Rofman noted the large number of candidates for the board, including seven newcomers running against two incumbents for three available board seats. He said he is confident that as an elected Board of Education member he would be an asset. 

Previous candidate profiles include , , and 

Download the movie

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