Dear Scotch Plains voters,

Why am I interested in serving on the Board of Education?

Having watched my children grow through our school system over the past several years to where they are now, one in High School and one in college, I have seen a lot of what has worked great here and lot that has not. Coming from a Six Sigma mindset, my own personal development has always been driven by finding defects in processes and work to create improvements. In addition, my lifelong desire to help out my community in any way my skillset can offer has been my motivation and ultimately reward. Throwing in my hat to the Board of Ed has been something I thought about since my children first entered McGinn. I wanted to be the parent that could make an impact on their education. While I attended school board meetings back then to stay aware, at the time though, I felt maybe it’s just too huge an undertaking for a parent of young kids. Both my wife and I have full time jobs that also demanded a lot of us. So, for several years, I decided to take a back seat, observe and learn. As my kids navigated their way into scouting, I became a Den Leader and ultimately Cubmaster Pack Leader for the McGinn Pack 277 Cub Scouts. It was during my leadership in Scouting that my desire to help our community was fulfilled. It was filled with bringing parents and their young kids together to build memories that last a lifetime and learn skills to help them navigate their way through that life journey. Fast forward to today as my younger son is thriving with his sports and academics while my older son became a Life Scout, participated in several school activities and found his calling in the various school music programs such as Wind Ensemble, Concert Band and Marching Band. I have reflected back on everything that has brought them from 1st grade to this point in their educational journeys at SPFHS and University of Delaware. There are several proud dad moments I have been fortunate to celebrate along the way. And yet there are many moments I wish I could have gone back in time and righted a wrong that I didn’t see back then. There are still a few things that I feel responsible for I wish I could have improved, as well as programs, education and activities that I feel our school district could have done more to help prepare them for the unpredictable world ahead. And in my reflections, while I am proud of what I have helped them accomplish, I still wish I did more to advocate for them when the schools didn’t. Both my wife and I have had fortunate experiences with the fantastic teaching staff there and loved every ounce of education they provided our children. Yet behind all the amazing teachers on the front line, resides the backline: the operations, the administration, the red tape and all the things that made navigating our children’s educational path a challenge at times. So, in the past two years during my reflections, I realized where I need to be right now is on that board making a difference. I know it’s too late in the game to make a major educational improvement for my children’s final years, but it’s not too late to improve the outcome of all yours. And if I can do at least that, then I’ll know the effort was worth it. “Do YOU Care?”. Because I DO!

What initiatives would I like to address during your time on the Board of Education?

Our number one priority first and foremost, I would like to make sure all our students are well prepared with academics and real-world life skills. This needs to begin from an early age starting in the elementary grades and it needs to be inclusive for students of all backgrounds, abilities and special needs. The curriculum has become so disconnected with our children’s future needs, that these kids are not prepared enough for when entering college or the real world. All too often, they become dependent on their parents, teachers and adults to make decisions for them. We need to bring these kids to a level where they feel comfortable making decisions on their own. At the end of the day, isn’t school a place to educate our youth to be successful on their own? But we can’t just end there. We need to include parents through this journey so they can be a part of this process. We need to communicate more with them and we need our educators to partner better with them. Our schools have so many clubs, programs, sports, and academic opportunities, but most of the parents are left in the dark and their kids never get to realize these opportunities. And finally, we need to hold the Board of Ed accountable in their fiscal responsibility to everyone in Scotch Plains (not just to families enrolled in school). I have attended countless BOE meetings advocating for this and asking the board to push for their share of the PILOT money that both Fanwood and Scotch Plains councils have hoarded from developers, thus causing the rest of the resident population to pay the school tax portion of all the new tenants moving into these complexes. I’m the only candidate that has been vocal on this issue and I will not rest my voice on this, nor will I drink the Kool-aid once elected. We all know the schools are suffering from rising healthcare costs, but for our town to be choking necessary funds to our schools is despicable. We deserve better advocates for your money on our board.

What accomplishments in my personal/professional life demonstrate my commitment to the SPF school district community?

My 27-year career in technology currently revolves around providing education, knowledge and training for 200,000 employees in a large financial institution. I create and manage instructional and multimedia content as well as develop pathways and trainings for our employees to learn all of our products and services. In addition, I am a core leader of our Employee Experience Technology Innovation Team and continually work to introduce new ideas and processes for implementation and patent filing. Lately, a lot of this has been around A.I. Working in this corporate environment for 24 years, I have filled every role from support technician, to server manager, network builder, technology trainer, innovation coach, to team lead and site lead. I have become a subject matter expert many areas while also managing risk, responsible growth, and delivering results. As a mentor for my teammates, as well as our Year-Up interns (a development program for the underprivileged youth), I take pride in providing the guidance needed for them to grow in our company and beyond. People in my organization always count on me for delivering results in high level projects because they see me as the guy that ‘gets it done’. Outside of work I enjoy building memories and experiences with my family, listening to music, and getting involved in Scouting. I was a Den Leader and Cubmaster for McGinn Pack 277 from 2014-2021 and grew our pack from about 25 children to well over 50. I enjoyed creating fun and memorable camping events and exciting Pinewood Derbies while developing their life skills. I still enjoy helping the kids of Scotch Plains build their pinewood cars each year through an annual build workshop I created several years ago. I have continued that tradition for several years since. I look forward to being able to bridge the gap between parents, teachers and our community to help provide a stronger education for our children's tomorrow. Last year I ran for Board of Education and lost by a slim margin. During my campaign I walked door to door throughout our community and spoke to many of you about what you like and don’t like within our school system. Writing all your responses down I thought long and hard about how we can address the challenges we all face within our district and have pledged to be your voice on them. Even though I lost the election, I continued to show up monthly at each board meeting and stand up at the podium during public comments and make your voice heard. In some cases, a change I suggested was eventually adopted into the school program. And in other cases, I felt nothing was done. But I continue to push for these positive changes and will not rest until they come to fruition.

What is my vision for the future of the SPF school district?

My vision is pure and simple. I hope to see our amazing community and children continue to thrive with the talented staff and programs we have in all our schools and have better mental health than they do today. The landscape of our technology, innovation, social media, and pressure is changing rapidly. To achieve our future goals, we need look at every aspect and see where all the defects are or where they could end potentially, if mismanaged. We need to support our teachers, provide better communication to parents, introduce new academic programs starting from kindergarten through 12th grade, scale down the use of digital devices in classrooms (laptops, iPads, etc), have more teacher to student interaction. And finally, I hope to see better fiscal responsibility and stewardship of our tax dollars.

Do YOU Care? I DO!

Sincerely,

--Eric Fellen 2026 Scotch Plains Candidate for BOE