Montclair Board Of Ed Replacement Will Serve Until Jan. 2023

MONTCLAIR, NJ —Montclair Board of Education President Latifah Jannah on Monday announced that the replacement for board member Alfred Davis, who died Dec. 2, would serve until Jan. 2023, Montclair Local reported.

Jannah said the board plans to choose a candidate to fill the empty seat by Feb. 5, and that person would serve out the remainder of Davis' term.

There had been some question about how long the new board member would serve because the board recently began to transition from a Type I to a Type II district.

Under the Type I system, board members are appointed by the mayor, and Davis' term would have expired in May 2022.

However, in November, voters approved a Type II system, where school board members are elected. Voters also approved two new seats on the board —raising the number of seats from seven to nine — which will be filled during elections in March of 2022.

Under the Type II system, Davis' term —along with the terms of Jannah and Board Vice President Priscilla Church — got extended until after the November 2022 election.

With state law requiring Davis' replacement to serve until "the next election," there was some question as to whether that meant the March election or until after the November election, Montclair Local reported.

On Monday, Jannah said it would be the latter.

Anybody interested in joining the board as Davis' replacement is asked submit their resume to the board by Jan. 5.

According to the board, candidates will be interviewed Jan. 12, during a public special meeting of the board, and on Jan. 19, during a regularly scheduled public board meeting.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old, be a resident of Montclair for at least one year preceding the date of appointment, be registered to vote, satisfy a criminal history background check, have no direct or indirect interest in any contract with or claim against the board and not be the mayor or a township councilor, the board said.

Davis had served on the board since 2019. After his death, Jannah and Superintendent Jonathan Ponds released a statement thanking Davis for his tireless work serving the community through his medical practice, as a founding member of the Montclair African-American Heritage Foundation and as the board's liaison for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast.

"(Davis) was a gentle, thoughtful man and highly respected by the community and his fellow board members," Jannah and Ponds said in the statement.

They added: (Davis') character was beyond reproach, and everything he did during his service to our schools was for the betterment of our students."