Note: There are a few ways to use this page. It mixes objective source material with light analysis and first-hand reporting so voters can choose their depth.
Where we add context or opinion, it’s to help busy voters make sense of gaps in local information. Not everyone has time to be a volunteer politico.
Makema Douglas is a lifelong Vineland resident, graduate of Vineland High School, and the only current candidate who has taught in Vineland Public Schools. She also holds certifications in education, leadership, supervision, and administration, and has served as a youth pastor, community program developer, author, and entrepreneur.
Her agenda focuses on clear, timely communication between administration, parents, and students—especially on academic performance, schedules, transportation, and graduation readiness—as well as ensuring all departments follow updated policies and standards.
Douglas sees the school board as a non-partisan body and supports high expectations paired with targeted supports and a full range of extracurricular activities. While personally aligned with many Democratic views, she emphasizes finding common ground to keep the focus on student success.
This election is on November 4th, 2025
At the Vineland Food Truck Festival, InformTheVoteNJ.com caught up with Makema Douglas, who is running for the Vineland School Board in a competitive race with three open seats and eight candidates. Douglas shares her motivations, values, and vision for the district.
Why She’s Running:
Douglas describes herself as a concerned citizen and an educator who believes taxpayers should know where their money is going. She emphasizes her passion for making sure the school system works for students, teachers, and parents alike.
Teacher & Parent Support:
Having spoken with teachers in transition and facing vacancies, Douglas argues that educators need more support and that politics should not interfere with providing quality education. She stresses that students must come first.
Transparency & Collaboration:
Douglas calls for better communication between parents, teachers, administrators, and the board. She wants the process to be less about political battles and more about building trust and finding practical solutions.
Final Thoughts:
Douglas encourages other candidates to be transparent and open to dialogue, stressing that working together is the only way to improve the school system. Her message is rooted in faith, practicality, and a commitment to community-driven solutions.
This table highlights the key takeaways from the Food Truck Festival man-on-the-street conversation.
Timestamp | Topic | Key Takeaways |
---|---|---|
0:00 | Introduction | Steven introduces InformTheVoteNJ.com and Makema Douglas, noting the three open seats and competitive race for Vineland School Board. |
1:00 | Festival Outreach | Douglas shares her positive experience meeting residents, answering questions, and hearing concerns about local education. |
1:45 | Why She’s Running | Douglas frames her candidacy around concern for education, taxpayer accountability, and creating a system that truly works for students and families. |
2:30 | Teacher & Parent Concerns | She highlights teacher vacancies, morale issues, and the need for more support, alongside parental concerns for transparency and trust. |
3:25 | Encouraging Transparency | Douglas urges fellow candidates to be open, communicate honestly, and work together—emphasizing that mistakes can be fixed if everyone is willing to try. |
Makema Douglas has gone beyond the baseline by responding to our candidate questionnaire and participating in a brief “man-on-the-street” style interview. Those steps show she’s open to sharing her perspective and willing to engage directly with voters.
To push this rating higher, she would need to take the next step by participating in one or more longer-form interviews where she can unpack her platform in depth, address district-specific concerns, and give voters a clearer picture of her plans. Hosting or attending planned meet-and-greet events where residents can ask questions directly would also demonstrate proactive outreach and strengthen her transparency and accessibility profile.
Overall, she’s on a positive trajectory—her existing efforts already place her a bit above the local status quo, and a few targeted moves could quickly elevate her into the top tier of candidate openness.
Strengthen communication and transparency between administration, faculty, parents, and students. Timely parent notification regarding changes in academic performance, scheduling, transportation, grade-level promotion, and graduation readiness.
Work closely with administration so all departments follow updated regulations, policies, standards, and best practices—especially as new Department of Education changes unfold. Ensure that funding, job security, and the school experience are managed openly and responsibly for all stakeholders.
Believes too much politics has crept into what should be a non-partisan school board system. Calls for “simple approaches” to solving problems and keeping the focus on educating students.
Supports high academic expectations and targeted accommodations for struggling students, alongside supportive and extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, theater, arts, community work, and collaborations. Stresses that one size does not fit all, and each student deserves a holistic approach to education.
States the board should remain a non-partisan entity, though personally aligned with many Democratic views. Promotes finding common ground and an amicable way to approach disagreements for the benefit of students.
Lifelong resident of Vineland and graduate of Vineland High School. Parent of children who graduated from Vineland Public Schools.
Only current candidate who has taught in Vineland Public Schools. Holds certifications in education, leadership, supervision, and administration.
Community activist, former youth pastor, community program developer, author, and entrepreneur. Emphasizes that neither she nor her husband is employed by or under contract with the city or its schools, nor holds a paying county position. Serves purely as a volunteer for the community, from youngest to eldest residents.
Believes the Vineland School Board should remain a non-partisan entity. While personally aligned with many Democratic views, emphasizes finding common ground and approaching disagreements amicably to provide students with the best opportunities for success.
Highlights being a lifelong Vineland resident, a product of Vineland Public Schools, and the only current candidate who has taught in the district. Holds certifications in education, leadership, supervision, and administration. Her children graduated from Vineland Public Schools, and she is a community activist, former youth pastor, program developer, author, and entrepreneur. Notes that neither she nor her husband is employed by or under contract with the city or its schools and she does not hold a paying county position — underscoring her intent to serve purely as a volunteer for the community.
Overall agenda: My focus is to address the current school environment as it relates to parent notification about anything impacting their child's school experience, academic performance changes and schedule, transportation grade level promotion and graduation readiness. These issues are concerning for most taxpayers, School faculty, parents and even students. There are changes that are expected to occur within the Department of Education. Most of the changes have yet to unfold and many people are concerned with how it will impact their school experience, funding, and job security.
I plan to accomplish these things by addressing administration to keep transparency in communication throughout channels and to work together so that all departments are following updates, regulations, policies, standards, and best practices.
Issue Positions: I believe the issues arise because we haven't used simple approaches to finding solutions for issues. I believe that politics have played too much a part of a non-partisan system. It is important that we keep the issues, goals and main focus about educating our students and providing them with access to a quality education that has high academic expectations, accommodations to support those students that are struggling to reach the goals and outcomes put in place, to provide supportive and extracurricular activities, such as sports, clubs, theater, arts community work, and collaborations. These factors should be present to ensure that each student will receive a holistic approach to education, in ways that best suits their ability to learn because one size does not fit all.
Party Affiliation: I believe the school board should remain non-partisan entity. However, I am aligned with most Democratic views. Nevertheless, if we must deal with people and their ideology , theology, or psychology we should agree to agree and agree to disagree. I believe there's an amicable way to approach every situation and that we should be able to find common ground. We must in order to do the best in providing our students with optimum opportunities for success in the school system.
Upcoming Campaign: I would love to be invited to more events, radio shows, and podcasts. I currently have a few interviews posted online. You can continue to look for me at more local community events and social media platforms.
Distinguishing Yourself from Opponents: My background distinguishes me from my opponents. I am a product of Vineland Public schools K through 12. I am the only running mate and potential person on the board that has taught in Vineland Public Schools. My certifications are in education, leadership, supervision, and administration in education. My children attended and graduated from Vineland public schools and are productive citizens. I am a vested community activist, former youth pastor, community program developer, author and entrepreneur currently, Also, I nor my husband is employed by the city or has a contract with the city or its schools. I also do not hold a paying position for the county. My sole goal is to serve this community and its residence starting from the youngest to the eldest. I have no other agenda, and this is a volunteer position.
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Supports multiculturalism. Reposted on
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Supports voting for change of leadership on the board.
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Wants to fortify security at schools.
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Supports methods to ensure school safety for students and staff.
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Redirecting focus on programs that reinforce school resilience for teachers and students.
Restoring community faith in the Vineland School System and its administration's ability to effectively lead.
Ensuring that teachers, parents, students, and residents have representation in decision making regarding practices, policies, and procedures.
Supports fighting for fair and equitable wages for staff and faculty.
Wants to focus on core studies such as language arts, math, and sciences.
Supports parent involvement.
Stands on fair, reasonable, and equitable thinking and representation.
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