Morris County sees mix of newcomers, incumbents win in contested school board races
Morris County delivered a split decision in some of the heavily politicized school board elections where sex-ed, COVID lockdowns and history curricula became fault lines this fall.
Conservative "parents' rights" candidates ousted incumbents in some towns, were turned back in others and still other races remained uncertain after Tuesday's vote.
In the race in the Morris School District, board President Melissa Spiotta and fellow incumbent Susan Pedalino retained their seats representing Morris Township over challenger Dawn Teresa Parkot. Spiotta led the way with 5,296 votes, followed by Pedalino at 4,878 and Parkot at 3,103, according to unofficial tallies from the Morris County Clerk's Office.
Also:North Jersey election updates: local results roll in
The incumbents touted their experience and readiness to lead the district of 5,000 students and said helping children recover from the academic and emotional impacts of the pandemic was a priority. Parkot said parents need more of a voice in their children's education and warned against attempts to "indoctrinate students on sexual complexities and progressive beliefs."
On Wednesday, Spiotta said she was "ecstatic" about the results and ready to focus on supporting students and the district overall.
"School board races have gotten very political, and we've worked very hard to avoid that," she said. The election had featured "seeds of division," she said, but Spiotta took comfort in the founding of the district, which merged and racially integrated Morris Township and Morristown schools 50 years ago.
"I feel like it's a rejection" of bringing politics into the school board, Spiotta said of the results. "I hope we can just kind of move away from that and do the work ... We feel like we're in a really good place."
Randolph School Board
In Randolph, a district that's made national news with controversies over sex-ed and school holidays, a three-member “Experience and Integrity” ticket swept the contest for school board seats being vacated by incumbents. Hazel Ball, Sheldon Epstein and Amanda Adams won by a wide margin. Ball finished third in the still-unofficial results with 4,045 votes, well ahead of fourth-place finisher Kelly Ann Arzberger (2,984 votes).
Most of the candidates ran on platforms of restoring trust and transparency in the district. Adams and Ball said during a candidates' forum last month that they supported the state health standards and how Randolph was implementing them. "I trust the experts within the district who write the curriculum and professionals who are the teachers to actually implement them in our classrooms," Adams said.
Arzberger said they were a "noble effort" by the state but not "age-appropriate."
“While I’m obviously disappointed with the results, I will continue to advocate for the students, parents, teachers, taxpayers, and other members of the Randolph community and speak out on issues related to the schools that I believe require community awareness,” Todd Schleifstein, who finished sixth, said on Wednesday.
Parsippany Contest
In Parsippany, the county's biggest school district with 7,000 students, a self-identified conservative and two candidates who supported the schools' current curriculum, were in the lead as of Wednesday.
Jack Raia, the conservative, was elected to one of three seats on the board, but two runningmates - incumbent Andrew Choffo and Yvonne Ferise - were trailing. Incumbent Alison Cogan and newcomer Michelle Shappell, who praised the balance the district had struck in implementing the new health standards, were also in line to win two seats.
"I'm gratified the citizens of Parsippany have given me the chance to serve them," Raia said. “I thank all of the candidates who provided the public with a clear choice. There was robust debate on vision and the mission for public school education in Parsippany.”
Cogan finished third to most likely retain her seat, but was only 24 votes ahead of Choffo. General election results to date are unofficial. County clerks have until Nov. 26 to transmit vote results to New Jersey's Secretary of State for final certification.
In Morris Township, Grayzel bests Mancuso
In other local races, all eight incumbent mayors in Morris County were re-elected. The only new mayor to win on Tuesday was Chester Township Council President Michael Inganamort, a Republican who ran unopposed to replace Marcia Asdal, who chose not to run again.
Another notable result came in Morris Township, where former Democratic Mayor Jeffrey Grayzel defeated another former mayor, Peter Mancuso, for a seat on the township committee. Mancuso, one of Morris County’s longest-serving elected leaders, is the lone Republican left on the committee.
Grayzel cracked the all-GOP Morris Township Committee in 2009. He later became mayor, but chose not to run for re-election in 2020 in favor of a failed bid to challenge state Sen. Anthony Bucco in New Jersey’s 25th Legislative District.
Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties.
Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH
This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: NJ election results: Morris County school boards sees mixed results
