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Three Merchantville residents are running for three available three-year terms on the Merchantville Public School District Board of Education: incumbents Melanie Gaskins, Kristina Kroot, and Mitch Larson.
All three candidates have been invited to reply to the same set of prompts, telling voters about themselves, their priorities, and their views of the current state of affairs in their community. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Kristina Kroot, 41 (Incumbent)
Kristina Kroot is a seven-year Merchantville resident who works as a communications consultant for technology and health organizations and writes on AI policy and ethics.
Kroot holds an MBA and a master’s degree in developmental psychology, and also operates her own business specializing in architectural and interior photography.
A married mother of two school-aged children, Kroot enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, gardening, concert-going, and volunteering.
What is your philosophy of education?
Every student walks in with a different mix of strengths, worries, and questions, and a school’s job is to meet each of them where they are.
I believe the best education leaves kids curious enough to keep learning after the bell rings. That takes a supportive, stimulating environment where creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving get real practice.
A balanced curriculum matters to me. Arts, sports, and extracurriculars sit alongside math and reading because kids grow across all of them, and the real world will ask for all of them.
Students do their best work when they feel known and safe, and when they can see that what they’re learning connects to something beyond the classroom. My job on the board is to protect those conditions so that every child in our district has them.
What personal and professional experiences would you bring to the table as a school board member?
I’ve served on this board for six years, so I know how our district runs, from budgets and staffing to policy and the follow-up after a hard incident.
My career has been spent in communications and clinical psychology research, and I’m now in the Public Affairs and Community Development program at Rutgers-Camden, where I study how policy decisions play out in communities.
My experiences have taught me three things I use on the board.
First, to think critically and read the evidence before acting, asking what a claim rests on before accepting it.
Second, to listen to everyone a decision touches, from teachers and staff to parents and students, before the vote happens.
Third, to stay steady and keep children at the center even when a decision is hard.
My volunteer work as a court-appointed advocate for children and as a crisis counselor shapes how I think about student safety and well-being, and as a parent of two students in our district, I see the effects of our decisions firsthand.
Why are you running for office?
I’m running for a third term because I believe a school’s job is to serve the whole child. Academics matter, and so does a child’s safety, health and well-being, sense of belonging, and a chance to discover what they’re good at.
Every decision the board makes, from budget to staffing to policy, should be tested against one question: is this what’s best for our students?
Six years on the board have taught me how much of that work happens in the details, and I want to keep doing it so every child in our district is known, supported, and challenged, and every family can see how and why decisions get made.
What are the biggest challenges your school district faces?
A small district must make careful choices with limited resources. Insurance premiums have risen substantially, and that’s a cost we don’t control, but must plan around. Our job is to absorb those costs responsibly while protecting what students experience in the classroom.
State funding is uncertain, and leadership and staffing transitions affect students directly. We also need to keep communication open so families hear about decisions from us, not second-hand, and keep students safe and supported, handling harassment, intimidation, and bullying concerns well.
Finally, students are growing up surrounded by digital tools and AI, and our schools have to teach digital and critical thinking literacy so they can question what they see, use technology with judgment, and stay in charge of their own thinking.
What are three key issues on which you will focus if elected?
- Transparent communication, so families and residents understand what the board decides and why.
- Student safety and well-being, with strong follow-through on bullying and harassment concerns and a school culture built on respect.
- Fiscal responsibility and stability, including managing rising insurance costs, sound budgeting, and finding the right permanent superintendent to lead our district.
Mitch Larson, 32 (Incumbent)
Mitch Larson is the Assistant Dean at the Rutgers University-Camden Graduate School who lives in Merchantville with his wife, Alexandria, and daughter, Juliette.
Larson holds a Ph.D. in childhood studies, with an interest in children’s literacy and genre fiction, and film (specifically, horror).
He is the secretary for the Young Friends Board of the Philadelphia Film Society, and was named to the recently formed Merchantville Arts Council.
What is your philosophy of education?
I believe that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to education. Every child needs something different to put them in the best possible position to grow and succeed.
It’s up to the Board of Education to make sure that our Chief School Administrator (CSA), together with our district’s faculty and staff, has everything they need to give our children the tools they need to be successful.
What personal and professional experiences would you bring to the table as a school board member?
When I was a child attending school, I had an IEP, and received pull-out services starting in first grade. My school wasn’t always responsive or supportive of my accommodations, and it required my family to advocate on my behalf to ensure I had the accommodations and services I needed to be as successful as possible.
I’ve carried those experiences with me, and I want to be able to step up and advocate for our families in Merchantville the same way my family did for me, especially for our special-education students and families.
I was also a child who had undiagnosed ADHD and depression, both of which I’ve dealt with now for most of my life. I am keenly aware of the ways in which mental health can impact children at school every day.
Professionally, I’ve spent my life working in higher education, which allows me to bring a totally different perspective on education to the board. The early part of my career was focused on enrollment management, working in undergraduate admissions, first at Rutgers and then at Penn.
Eventually, I moved over to student affairs, and I’ve spent the past half-decade supporting and advocating for graduate students at Penn and Rutgers.
Why are you running for office?
Merchantville is a special place. I am a firm believer that our district can and should be a place where every student can grow academically, emotionally, and socially in a caring, sensitive, and supportive environment.
I want to do everything I can to make that possible for our families, and I want to ensure that our CSA and every faculty and staff member in the district have what they need to meet our students’ needs.
Like many members of our community, I’ve spent the past couple of years doing some real soul-searching about how I can help be a force for good locally.
How can I show up for my community and advocate for our families and community members who need the support? How can I help?
For me, this is one way that I know I can help.
What are the biggest challenges your school district faces?
Our interim CSA is approaching the end of his second year, and we need to find a permanent replacement. It’s crucial to me that the Board finds someone who is culturally sensitive and can meet the needs of families in a district as diverse as ours.
We need to find someone who is kind and empathetic, someone who can lead by example while prioritizing the growth of our students academically, emotionally, and socially. We also need to find someone who is knowledgeable about emerging technologies, curriculum, and best practices.
What are three key issues on which you will focus if elected?
- Finding a permanent Chief School Administrator who is culturally sensitive, empathetic, kind, and knowledgeable about emerging technologies, curriculum, and best practices
- Prioritizing the needs of our special education families, faculty, and staff
- Working with the borough to find an adequate and appropriate solution for full-day Pre-K
