Lee Makes Voice Heard Early On with School Board

It didn't take all that long for new school board member Thomas Lee to make an impression.

At Wednesday night's school board reorganization meeting, when board president Chris Strano invited new board members Lee and David Kline to make suggestions at any time, Lee made one right on the spot. He suggested the creation of a new technology committee that sparked discussion and could be talked about in the future.

The suggestion for Lee is not surprising as he is eager to get involved with the board.

“I just think I can make a positive impact on the school board and the school district,” said Lee. “I hope I can do just as good of a job, if not better, than my predecessors.”

Lee has lived in West Deptford his entire life and is the owner of West Deptford Chiropractic, located on Westwood Drive and just down the road from West Deptford Middle School. Community involvement has always been big for Lee and his office and has been a stepping stone to him taking a position on the school board.

While Lee mentioned prior to the meeting that he'd like to help out with committees such as curriculum and athletics, technology seemed to be something he was very interested in. When he brought forth his suggestion before the board on Wednesday night, he said it stemmed from neighboring school boards in other districts who have technology committees.

Strano said that some aspects of technology are incorporated into already existing committees, such as curriculum, but said that the board could look at adding it in the future, especially when Lee said how technology is becoming a larger component of schools each year.

Lee does believe that the school board has done a very good job in previous years, but noted that “there's always room for improvement.” He said that establishing long-range goals over the course of the year is one critical component that he hopes to improve on during his tenure.

Still, with every topic and issue that he talked about, Lee always worked his way back to being involved. He said that, being a new member, it'll take time to become educated with district rules and policies, but his aura of eagerness was apparent on the very first night.

“I think I bring a lot to the table in terms of being supportive, getting involved and making sure things get done,” he said.

Meet West Deptford's other new school board member: Kline Hopes Job Experience Helps Makes Him Asset to School Board