Pleasantville School Board Selects Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez to Fill Seat
Photo of Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez by Susan Allen/Stockton University.
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
PLEASANTVILLE – Educator and community organizer Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez, was selected to fill a seat on the Pleasantville Board of Education on Tuesday, Dec. 16, and announced his candidacy to run for a full-term.
Moreno-Rodriguez, the director of the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University, will fill a one-year term on the board. He made history last year as the first Latino to guide the center.
One of the founding members of El Pueblo Unido of Atlantic City, which is dedicated to the local immigrant community, was a Class of 2022 member of Front Runner New Jersey’s 30 Under 40 Top Latino Leaders of South Jersey.
“I will take this opportunity and work to make the Pleasantville school district safer and better for all students, educators and parents,” Moreno-Rodriguez told Front Runner New Jersey.com on Wednesday.
Moreno-Rodriguez put out video about his candidacy and asked the community to show up at Tuesday’s meeting. He said the response by the attendance showed the community’s interest in education and the decisions of the board.
“It was great to see the support from a diverse group of community leaders, parents, students, and educators,” Moreno-Rodriguez said. “I want to be abundantly clear, they were not just for me, but they were there because they want to see better schools for everyone. Education can change someone’s life and our students deserve the highest quality education.”
In 2023, Moreno-Rodriguez came within roughly two dozen votes from advancing the Democratic primary for Pleasantville City Council.
In his Facebook video, Moreno-Rodriguez explained his reasoning for pursuing the school board position.
“As an educator, I know how important boards of education are for our community and I want to be a part of this positive change,” he said in the video. I want to make a positive change in our community and the better prepared our students are, the better Pleasantville will be in the future.
“We’re talking about a secure and safe environment for our students to learn in. We’re talking about giving them the tools, the items, the education necessary to thrive in a changing world. And as well, I heard from a lot our community members, transparency and accountability from the board of education.”
Moreno-Rodriguez said he will use his position in a positive way and uplift the students and staff in the district.
“We’re doing some amazing things for our students. Can things improve? Yes,” he said. ” And I’m going to be positive about it. We have to bring positive energy. We have to be that light in some very dark spaces.
“We have to give students the opportunity to succeed and become responsible citizens in this world. I know the power of education. I know the power of education policies. I know that we can make a difference together – me, you, the community. We can make a bigger difference in our community and put children, our students, on a better pathway forward.”
Note from AC JosepH Media: If you like this story and others posted on Front Runner New Jersey.com, lend us a hand so we can keep producing articles like these for New Jersey and the world to see. Click on SUPPORT FRNJ and make a contribution that will go directly in making more stories like this available. Thank you for reading!
About Author
