Board of Ed Meeting to Address Drake's Vacancy

The Board of Education (BOE) will be holding its regular public meeting Monday at 7 p.m. in the Media Center of New Milford High School. 

President of the BOE, during the special June 10 meeting of the BOE. According to Drake, he is resigning from the BOE because his company is relocating and he has decided to move with them. 

Now the job of the BOE is to appoint a person to fill Drake's seat until the general election, Nov. 5. According to Superintendent Michael Polizzi, upon Drake's resignation being made public at the June 10 meeting, a number of people have come forward expressing interest in being appointed to fill the vacated seat. Polizzi told Patch that the Board will be meeting with candidates and making a determination shortly. 

When a seat is vacated, the Board has the power to appoint a candidate of their choosing until the next general election, which is Nov. 5 in New Milford. 

Current law states that school board candidates who want their name on the ballot for the November General Election must submit their nominating paperwork by the primary election date – which was June 4 this year, a full five months before the election.

A bill that is currently pending before the N.J. Senate, S-2086, would change the filing deadline for candidates in November school board elections from the primary election to no later than 4 p.m. of the last Monday of July. 

According to Mike Yaple, a spokesperson for the New Jersey School Boards Association, the 2012 law that allows communities to change their school board elections from April to November did not address the issue of board vacancies. The amendments to S-2086 would establish a procedure for boards to follow if a vacancy occurs between the candidacy filing deadline and the November election.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Whelan, is awaiting a vote by the full Senate.

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