Contested Race For Sparta School Board Underway

SPARTA, NJ - As school district around New Jersey try to recover from the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on their faculty, staff and budgets, the race for people willing to donate their time to tackle the problem has begun in New Jersey.

On Monday, candidates filed to fill seats on the local school boards that are tasked with being stewards of the taxpayer's money and leaders in educational hiring.

In Sparta, there are three seats opening up to serve at the end of 2020 and five people filed to fill those slots by the deadline, according to the unofficial ledger from the County Clerk.

Joanne Hoove is running for one of the three-year terms as is Christa Sorensen under the banner of "Trust, Collaboration, Community."

There are three other candidates running under "Integrity, Transparency, Innovation" and they are Michael J. McGovern, Robert R. Zywicki and Richard Snellings.

Also running under the "Integrity, Transparency, Innovation" slogan is Vanessa Serrano who is looking to fill a one-year term.

"The work of a school board has become increasingly complex, but rest assured, if you're elected or appointed to your school board, you won't 'go it alone.' As New Jersey's only service organization whose sole mission is to train, assist and represent the state's local boards of education, the New Jersey School Boards Association will be with you every step of the way," New Jersey School Boards Association President Michael McClure said.

Those considering serving on the school board, can take advantage of NJSBA's online briefings that provide details about the responsibilities of serving on a local board of education. NJSBA's online briefings include three videos that address leadership, legal issues, and the role of a board member. Candidates can also listen to a recorded online radio broadcast, "What Board Members Need to Know When They're Elected."

It is unknown what form the general election will take this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the primary election was pushed to July 7 and was a primarily vote-by-mail event. That extended the official results weeks.

Regardless of if there is a mix of in-person and mail-in voting like in the primary, the general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.

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