Politics & Government
Eight Vying for Three Seats on Franklin Lakes School Board
Three incumbents will face off against five challengers in the November election.
A crowded field will compete through November for openings on the Franklin Lakes Board of Education, with five challengers filing to claim the seats of three incumbents whose terms will expire at the end of the year.
Board trustees Richard Koenigsberg and Christine Christopoul will seek to hold their spots at the table, as will board vice president James Martino. Koengsberg has sat on the board for ten years, and Christopoul will be seeking her second three-year term.
James Martino, who has served on the school board since May 2011, before elections were moved to November last year, became board vice president last month in a leadership shuffle following a controversial decision to cut ties with curriculum director Cheryl Best on the heels of accepting the resignation of Superintendent Frank Romano.
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Vicki Holst, a class parent of the Woodside Avenue School PTA who has filed candidacy, was among the most vocal critics of the board following what she termed “dysfunction” at public meetings.
After a prospective Woodside Avenue principal withdrew her acceptance of the position last month, citing a lack of “commitment or loyalty” from the school board, Holst circulated a position calling for board members’ resignations.
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Also filing to reclaim a seat at the table is Kathie Schwartz, a former trustee and board president who lost her seat last November in an election that also ousted Margaret Bennett and brought the board three new faces: Michael Ben-David, Jacqueline Veliky, and Shirley Hermansen.
In the lead-up to the election last year, all three incumbents currently seeking re-election wrote editorials to northjersey.com endorsing Schwartz for another term.
Also filing candidacy for the seats on the school board were Tony Zolfo, a father of three district students, sports coach, and Franklin Lakes-based corporate lawyer, and Susan Miller, a craft jewelry entrepreneur and mother of three.
Ralph Valvano, who is also running, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
The election will be held November 5.
