Two New Members Join Westfield School Board

WESTFIELD, NJ - The Westfield Board of Education is back at full strength after the school approved the appointments of Robert Garrison and Brian Morrissey on Tuesday to fill two vacant seats on the dais.

Both men will serve through December of this year filling the vacancies left by Lynn Benner and Charles Ostroff who resigned unexpectedly last month. Citing new work-related conflicts, Ostroff, who was re-elected in November, said he is "saddened" that he can no longer serve on what he considers "a great Board."

Elected in November of 2017, Benner sent a letter of resignation.

Ostroff chaired the Budget and Finance Committee and served as a member of the Facilities, Long Range Planning, and Technology committees. Benner served on the Legislation and Policies committees.

The newly appointed Board members are required to run for the unexpired portions of Ostroff's and Benner's terms following the election process established by the County.
The election for an unexpired 1-year term for Mrs. Benner's seat and a 2-year term for Mr. Ostroff's seat would take place on Nov. 5. This election will be open to any Westfield resident.

Garrison has more than two decades of public administration experience on the federal, state,
and local levels and experience in a wide variety of areas including labor relations, public
finance and budgeting, and workforce development.
Morrissey is a long-time internal audit leader whose professional experience includes working
with commercial and international banks, trust companies and other financial institutions in
leading and executing internal controls and regulatory compliance reviews.

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