Out of 590 public school districts in New Jersey, elections for Board of Education seats in thirteen municipalities were held today – the remaining vestiges of April elections that have either shifted to November or have appointed school boards.
A slate of Newark school board candidates backed by Mayor Ras Baraka captured all four seats up today, with a lease for a new elementary school developed by one of the mayor’s donors having little impact on the race.
Three-term incumbent Hasani Council headed the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate. It included Mark Comesañas, who runs a nonprofit group founded by Baraka, and Quamid Childs, who works for the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages, Juan Rivera. With more than 87% of the vote counted, Council (3,160), Childs (2,675), and Comesañas (2,674) lead Lisa Gray (1,428), John Farrell (1,404), and Taweed Peters (1,044)…