School Board Elections In Mendham, Chester: See Who's Running In 2022

MENDHAM/CHESTER, NJ — Three seats are up for election in November on the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education, representing three of the towns in the regional district.

All three races for the three-year volunteer unpaid seats are contested.

In the race for the Mendham Borough seat, incumbent board member Thomas R. Brooks is being challenged by Gino Grieco, running under the "Educational, Fiscal Leadership" slogan.

In the race for the seat representing Chester Township incumbent board member Michael J Golabek is being challenged by Peter J. Pappas, who is running under the slogan "Reclaiming Parental Rights."

In Long Valley, incumbent Lisa D. Woodring is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Dominic D. Esposito, who is running under the "Empowering Our Families" slogan.

In addition, Mendham and Chester are also holding contested election races for their respective local school boards.

In Mendham Borough, four candidates are vying for the three open seats on the board, according to the Morris County Clerks' office.

Incumbents Barry Haines and James Gillespie are running for re-election and are being challenged by John E. Vitale and Margery St. John.

According to the Morris County Clerks' office, four candidates are also vying for the three open board seats in Mendham Township.

Incumbents Joan Mody, Andrew Christmann, and Rochelle Abraham are all running for re-election and are being challenged by Diana Orban Brown, who is running under the "Transparency For Taxpayers" slogan.

In Chester, eight candidates are vying for four open seats on the local school board. Six candidates have filed for the three-year term, and two are running for an unexpired one-year term.

• Adam Sorchini: Running under the "Effective-Honest-Education" slogan
• Dana Levens: Running under the "Dedication to Education" slogan.
• Michael Sweetman: Running under the "Supporting Chester Schools" slogan.
• Melissa Mauro-Duffy: Running under the "Children, Education, Community" slogan.
• Adam Colicchio: Running under the "For Chester's Children" slogan.
• Angela Martinez: Running under the "A Teacher's Perspective" slogan
• Carolyn "CiCi" Byszewski: Running for an unexpired one-year term and under the "Reading, Writing, Arithmetic" slogan.
• Sara Kalashian: Incumbent and running for an unexpired one-year term and under the "Proven Balanced Leadership" slogan.

The local school board elections have heated up in recent years, becoming much more politicized last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The school board makes important community decisions such as hiring administrators and handling property tax money. Until 2012, all school boards held elections in April, when a state law was passed allowing districts to switch to the November general election.