Newark School Board Welcomes Its Third President Since 2018 Milestone

NEWARK, NJ — The Newark Board of Education has officially welcomed its third president since the state returned local control to the district five years ago.

Last week, Asia Norton was elected as president of the board at their annual reorganization meeting. Vereliz Santana and Dawn Haynes were elected as co-vice presidents (watch the video below).

Norton succeeds the board’s most recent presidents, Haynes and Josephine Garcia.

Norton referenced the district’s return to local control in a post-election speech, saying that the board has made progress since 2018.

“We are a young board, and not because of the age of [our] members,” she said. “But because this board has only been operating as a locally controlled board for five years, after 20-plus years of the Newark community being disenfranchised in determining how children were educated.”

“To put that into perspective, I was only in the second grade at Maple Avenue School … when the state took over the district,” Norton said. “And now, I sit before you today as a woman with a child of her own.”

“In the last five years, we have proven the doubters wrong,” she emphasized.

“But this does not mean we are where we want to be,” Norton continued. “How could we be? It’s only been five years. It took the state 20-plus years to lower graduation rates, close down schools, and [leave] this district in a deficit. The harms done to this district were not done overnight. And so neither will the remedies.”

• See Related: Positive Vibes As Newark Schools Return To Local Control

Three members of the school board were also sworn-in for new terms at the May 11 meeting: incumbents Josephine Garcia and Hasani Council, and newcomer Allison James-Frison.

Garcia, Council and James-Frison emerged victorious in the Newark school election on April 25. They ran on the “Moving Newark Schools Forward” slate, which was backed by a large roster of elected officials in the Newark area, including Mayor Ras Baraka, every city council member and several state lawmakers who represent Newark in the Legislature.

• See Related: Garcia, Council, James-Frison Win Spots On Newark School Board

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