Piscataway, NJ – While other young adults may be out campaigning for their favorite candidates in the upcoming election, Piscataway High School Class of 2020 graduate Zoe Scotto is running for office herself. Scotto, who recently turned 19, is seeking a Board of Education seat to give students and youth in the diverse community a voice in the decisions that affect them. If elected, Scotto would be the youngest Board member to serve in the district and, likely, the youngest female school board member in New Jersey history.

Scotto served as the Student Representative to the Piscataway Board of Education from 2018-2020. She said she was particularly motivated to run after the Board leadership shut her out of important conversations this summer.

“I was not allowed to speak when the majority of the Board voted to illegally remove Lt. Ralph Johnson. I wanted to be heard, but instead the members of the so-called, “Better Safer Schools” slate shut me out of the discussions,” said Scotto. Johnson, a three term member of the Board and Essex County Correctional Police Lieutenant working mandatory overtime during the pandemic, was restored by the NJ Commissioner of Education after winning a legal battle.

She helped organize a car caravan in support of Johnson, and mobilize other young people in the school district to speak up. Their involvement, she said, helped shape her decision to run.

“The determination, strength, and forward-thinking of students and young people around me inspired me. I want to be sure that students’ questions, comments, concerns, and inputs never go unheard. I hope to be a spokeswoman for young people, offering new and fresh perspectives to the Board and ensuring that the decisions made are always in the best interest of the student body.”

Scotto noted that she has seen women running for office in larger and larger numbers over the last few years. “We need more women, and especially younger women, to run and serve,” she said.

During her high school career, Scotto was deeply involved with the arts programs at Piscataway High School (PHS). She was Band President while having a strong presence in the Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band, as well as being involved in the orchestra, choir, and theatre programs. She was also Co-Chair of National English Honor Society (NEHS), an organization offered at PHS that promotes literacy in her school and in her community. Additionally, through her time in PHS’ Writers Guild, she had the opportunity to publish her own work in their 2020 book, “Captured and Released.” Outside of school, she worked as a Camp Counselor at Piscataway’s Community Center.

She is running with two incumbent members of the Piscataway School Board, Dr. Tom Connors and Shantell Cherry. Both Cherry and Connors voted against removing Lt. Johnson, and the three candidates were united in their effort to restore him, as well as integrity and leadership to the Board, Scotto said. The ticket is running together under the slogan “Putting Kids First.”

Scotto said their slogan speaks to her experience serving two terms as a Student Representative, and represents how committed they are to amplifying the voice of the student body and the youth. It’s a voice, she said is too often ignored.

“The well-being and input of students should be the top priority of the Board and community as a whole in order to ensure not only that they are safe, but that they are being advocated for. The students are heroes and their thoughts deserve to hold power and weight, which they have displayed through sending letters raising important questions and organizing protests,” she said.

Scotto is currently a first year student at Rutgers University — New Brunswick, anticipating a path as an English and Theatre Arts double major from the School of Arts and Sciences. In her free time, Zoe enjoys dancing, singing, film, theatre, writing, and spending time with her friends and family.

###