Meet Leonora Lacqua-Caminiti, Running For Re-Election To Middletown School Board

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Nov. 4 will be an election for Middletown Township Committee and school board. Early in-person voting starts this Saturday, Oct. 25.

There are seven candidates running for three seats on the Middletown school board:

James Cody, Chris Aveta and Sara Weinstein (running together on the Students, Parents, Taxpayers slate), James Dobis, Erin Torres and current Board members Leonora Lacqua-Caminiti and Joe Fitzgerald.

Patch asked them all the same series of questions, and all seven got back to us. Here are Lacqua-Caminiti's answers:

Your name, age and office you are running for. Do you currently hold this office and if so, for how long? Both years and terms. Have you ever run for elected office before? Please list all races and their outcomes.

My name is Leonora Lacqua Caminiti, and I am running for the Middletown Board of Education. I have been on the Board of Education since 2006.

What is your occupation?

I am a local real estate broker.

What part of Middletown do you live in? How long have you lived in town?

I have been a Middletown resident for 31 years.

Do you have children in the district or did your children attend Middletown schools in the past?

I have had three children go through the Middletown school system.

What specific skills or accomplishments can you cite that would compel voters to elect you to the Board of Education?

Since being on the Board of Education, I have supported the district going to self-insurance, which has saved the taxpayers millions of dollars. I have also supported reopening our schools and getting students back into the classroom after COVID, supporting parental rights, as well as implementing Class-3 officers in all of our school buildings. I was also an advocate for American Sign Language to be brought to our schools for our students.

Please list the three biggest issues the Middletown school district is currently facing.

The district is currently facing many issues, including transparency with the community, inadequate state funding and a lack of implementation of the district’s strategic plan.

Joe and Leonora, only: You voted earlier this year to increase the Middletown schools property tax by 10.1 percent. Many residents, notably seniors but also others, pleaded with the board not to increase the tax, and also the district warned it would not prevent the future closure or consolidation of some schools. Why did you vote this way?

I voted for the 10.1% tax increase based on the county superintendent's decision to reject the tentative budget. In that tentative budget, which included a closure of at least two schools and a 5.88% increase based on the agreement with the Township, the county superintendent would not approve the budget because of the lack of funds in our reserve accounts. Since there was no clear plan for how these closures would affect our students, we had to approve a budget that would protect the education of our students and keep the programs that benefit our students intact, all while making cuts to the budget in areas that did not affect the classroom.

In the past year, what mistakes has the Middletown BOE made? Or, asked another way: Where could the Board have done better?

In the past year, the Board has fallen short on open communication between the nine members of the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools, which has impacted the communication and transparency with the community.

What's your favorite thing about living in Middletown?

My favorite thing about living in Middletown is the people and the passion they have for their community, which is why our schools play such an essential role in making Middletown such a great place to live.

Here are the profiles for all six other candidates, plus reporting on the 2025 Middletown school board race:

Meet Sara Weinstein, Running For Election To Middletown School Board

Meet Chris Aveta, Running For Election To Middletown School Board

Meet James Cody, Running For Middletown School Board

Meet Erin Torres, Running For Middletown School Board

Meet Joe Fitzgerald, Running For Re-Election To Middletown School Board

Meet James Dobis, Running For Election To Middletown School Board

Mayor, Companies That Do Business With Middletown School District Donated To Students, Parents, Taxpayers Slate