Voters in fifteen school districts will go to the polls today to elect members of their local Board of Education.
In Newark, where voter turnout in recent school board elections tends to hover around the three percent mark, four of the nine seats are up this year. Incumbents Dawn Haynes and Vereliz Santana are seeking re-election to three-year terms on a ticket with Helena Vinhas. Vinhas was appointed in January after A’Dorian Murray-Thomas resigned to become an Essex County Commissioner. They face six others: Che J.Y. Colter; Muta El-Amin; Latoya Jackson; Sheila Montague; Debra Salters; and Jimmy White. Kanileah Anderson, who was appointed earlier this year following the resignation of Asia Norton, is unopposed in her bid for an unexpired term.
Six candidates are facing off for three seats on the Westfield Board of Education today. Incumbents Sonal Patel and Leila Morelli are seeking re-election, along with four other candidates: Lindsay Bezalel, a non-fiction book publisher at Penguin Random House; Brad Schaefer, a self-employed commodity trader; Mark Shore, an insurance consultant; and Julie Steinberg, a financial crimes compliance executive. Sahar Aziz, a Rutgers law professor who faced criticism for her anti-Israel views, is not seeking re-election.
Six candidates are seeking three school board seats in Monroe (Middlesex County): incumbents Chrissy Surbe and Matthew Gorham, and four others: Raghunath Chitturi, Peter Piro, Usha Sharma, and Charles Zeichner.
Two slates of candidates are seeking three school board seats in Lodi: Incumbent Paula Cortez leads the “Citizens Against Corruption” slate with Carmine Telep and George Panagiotou; they face Mika Alcala, Joe LaFranca, and Al Bautista, running on the “New Voices” team.
Three incumbents are seeking re-election to the New Brunswick Board of Education: Jennifer Sevilla, Diana Solis, and Edward Spencer, running on the “A New Beginning” slate. They face the “Students First” ticket of Yendi Mendez, Brittany Richardson and Linda Stork.
In a race for three Board of Education seats in the city of Passaic, incumbents Danny Rodriguez, Ronald Van Rensalier, and Judith Sanchez face challenges from Michael Cohen, Kopic Marko, Diomodes Minaya, Yosef Wolf, and Lisa Abreau Wozniak.
Irvington school board members Annette Beasley and John Brown are seeking re-election on a slate with Shante Barr; they face Conrad McPherson. Incumbent Gloria Chison is not seeking re-election.
Incumbents Joseph Capano, Michael Russo, and Marcos Garciga face Nancy Ciccone in a race for three Cliffside Park school board seats.
In Byram, incumbent James McBain faces a challenge from Debbie Rosario.
School board candidates in East Hanover, Fairview, North Bergen, Totowa, Weehawken, and West New York are running unopposed.