Three of the six communities in The Observer’s coverage area with elective Boards of Education – Lyndhurst, Nutley and Belleville – feature contested races in November.
Incumbents are running unopposed in Kearny, North Arlington and Bloomfield.
Harrison and East Newark have appointive school boards.
In Lyndhurst, two of the three incumbents – Ronald Grillo and Sherri Jarvis – are looking to retain their seats while Thomas DiMascio is not seeking re-election. There are four other candidates: former school trustee Josephine Malaniak, Joy Bliss, Scot Weaver and Chris Andrinopoulos Jr.
Malaniak and Bliss are reportedly running as an informal alliance. Andrinopoulos is one of several petitioners calling for a charter study referendum to be placed on the November ballot.
The Belleville school board contest features incumbent Jeanne Lombardi, the board’s vice president, looking to retain her seat while incumbent Peter Zangari Jr. has opted not to run. Others in the race are: Thomas Grolimond, Nelson Berrera and Christine Lamparello.
In Nutley, incumbents Deborah Russo and Ryan Kline, along with Salvatore Balsamo and Blaire Rzempoluch, are in the mix for three 3-year seats on the school board while Brenda Sherman, who was appointed to fill a vacancy created by Ken Reilly’s resignation in April, is running for the unexpired one-year term.
In Kearny, Board of Education incumbents James Doran Jr., the board president, and Cecilia Lindenfelser, vice president, are seeking reelection, as is Bryan Granelli, who was appointed earlier this year as a replacement for Daniel Esteves. The board voted to remove Esteves because, it contended, he missed three consecutive meetings, which is a violation of board by-laws.
In North Arlington, incumbent George McDermott is running unopposed for his seat on the school board and, in Bloomfield, incumbents Dan Anderson, Ruth Hidalgo and Kent Weisert are uncontested
