BY WALTER ELLIOTT
ESSEX – Voters in nine “Local Talk” towns will be choosing from a field of 39 candidates on the General Election ballot to fill 24 board of education seats on or before Nov. 5.
The 39 candidates have had their signed petitions validated by Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin’s Election Division office here after making their 4 p.m. July 30 filing deadline. The field breaks down into 18 incumbents and 21 challengers for mostly three-year terms. (There is a special election in West Orange to fill a resigned board member’s unexpired year.)
The school board election block is a non-partisan island in an otherwise politically partisan Nov. 5 ballot. Board candidates are not to identify themselves with any political party nor directly affiliate with a party’s campaign machinery.
Many of the eight public school districts moved away in the last decade from the third Tuesday in April BOE election date to gain more voter participation. Newark and Irvington still hold April elections.
The East Orange School District is the last one in “Local Talk Land” to have its members appointed by the mayor.
Herewith as of press time are the candidates among the nine towns and eight public districts. (South Orange and Maplewood have a joint district.):
ORANGE – Two incumbents and a challenger are seeking voters’ endorsement in filling three Orange Public Schools Board of Education seats that expire on Jan. 6. Incumbent member Derrick Henry has declined pursuing another three-year term.
David Kent Armstrong is running for re-election on his own “About Our Children” pennant.
Siaka Sherif, who won the first OBOE special election, is also seeking re-election. India Williams, on her “Equity Over Equality” banner, is making her second straight bid.
WEST ORANGE – Voters are to choose from two incumbents and two challengers to fill two board seats – plus an unopposed candidate to fill an unexpired term.
Dia Nicole Bryant, who had been appointed to succeed a resigned member, is seeking her first elective office victory at the polls. She is running under her own “For Our Kids” banner.
Attorney Jeffrey Litchman and community advocate Adam Karemer are running as independent challengers. Litchman is carrying his own “For The Children” slogan while Karemer had not filed a slogan as of July 30.
Current Board President Brian Rock and Board Member Eric Steveson are running together on their “West Orange Forward” flag.
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD – Two incumbents and five challengers across three tickets are vying for three South Orange-Maplewood School District board seats.
Current board president Qwai Telesford, board member Arun Vadlamani and newcomer Bethany Johnson are running together as the “Community, Collaboration, Stability” team. All three, including social worker Johnson, are South Orange villagers.
Challenger Paul Stephan wants to put “Empowering Students First” Stephan, a former teacher and USDOE Office of Civil Rights employee, is also a Maplewood Democratic Party district leader.
Former board member Jeff Bennett and newcomers Deidre Gleeson Brown and Bimal Kapadia aim to “Include, Achieve, Inspire.” Bennett, who conducted a write-in campaign last year, is a Maplewood township resident. while Brown and Kapadia, COO of Meadowlark Media, are villagers.
BLOOMFIELD – Two slates – one for incumbents and one for challengers – are vying for the Bloomfield Board of Education’s three seats.
Challengers Jessica A. Alvies, Joelle Berhnard and Matthew Brewster are “All for Kids.”
The “More Classroom Space” slate features current vice president Shane Berger and board members Michel Heller and Viviana Rojas.
MONTCLAIR – One incumbent is pitted against five challengers to fill three board seats. The elected Kathryn Weller-Demming and the appointed for July-December Sean Long are not running.
Board member Eric Scherzer is heralding “Accountability, Continuity, Transparency.”
Wine blogger and former March 7, 2022 special election candidate Holly Shaw says “Every Student Counts.”
Aerospace engineer Andrew Gideon, Susan L. Long and real estate agent June Raegner desire that “Every Student Thrives.”
Sacred Space Montclair owner and events planner Jada Roman wants an “Inclusive Educational Community.”
GLEN RIDGE – Two incumbents and a challenger – all recommended by the borough’s Civic Conference Committee – are looking for voter endorsement Nov. 5.
Board members Antyhony Bonnett and Kristin O’Neil are seeking re-election and legal consultant Ray DeLorenzi is after his first term. Municipal level candidates tend to run with or without CCC endorsement – a unique organization who vets prospective candidates.
BELLEVILLE – One incumbent is pitted against three challengers for two Belleville Board of Education Trustee seats. One of the newcomers will be succeeding Tracy Williams-Muldrow, who resigned her seat after being elected in May as First Ward Councilwoman. All are running individual campaigns.
Current BOE Vice President Nicole Daddis is putting “Belleville Children First.” Esteban Leon, who ran last year, is running for “Better Belleville BOE” – a variation of Mayor Michael Melham’s “A Better Belleville” label.
Elizabeth High School bilingual education coach Karia Nicole Arryoabe is into “Bridging the Gaps.” Passaic city elementary school instructor Jean Rodriguez Gillis touts herself as a “Teacher for Belleville.”
NUTLEY – All three incumbents and a challenger are all running individual campaigns. Sitting Board Vice President Joseph Battaglia is running without a slogan.
Board members Daniel Fraginals and Nicholas Scotti are also making individual runs.
Fraginals features “Foundation and Future” and Scotti wants to put “Nutley Families First.”
Second-time challenger Stephen Gilberti says there are “7 Million Reasons” to elect him. His slogan is based on a $7 million deficit that Nutley Public School administrators found they were short on their 2023-24 budget.
