Five Verona residents have filed to run for the lone seat in this November’s Board of Education election.
Joanna Breitenbach, Judith DiNapoli, Dominic Ferry, Lisa Freschi, and Michael Perry all submitted filings with the Essex County Clerk’s office by 4 p.m. yesterday.
There is one seat on the five-member board up for election this fall. Last November, the BOE picked former member Steve Spardel to fill a one-year unexpired term, created when Dawn DuBois stepped down from the Board. Spardel, who had previously served more than seven years on the BOE, is not seeking reelection.
Breitenbach, who has two children in Verona public schools, has served on the SCAs at Laning and H.B. Whitehorne and was a vocal proponent of the March 11 referendum. She has also been active in the Junior Woman’s Club of Verona, serving as co-president for 2011-2012, when she was recognized by the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs for her service.
DiNapoli spent 35 years as an educator and administrator in the Verona public school system, and serves on the Verona Rescue Squad. She ran unsuccessfully for the BOE last year. In January, the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Appellate Division ruled against DiNapoli in a suit she filed against the district in 2011 after her position as assistant business administrator was eliminated.
Ferry is a 12-year resident of Verona with two children Verona public schools. He applied to the BOE last year to fill DuBois’ unexpired term, but was not selected. He said at that time that, as a public works employee in Nutley, he had gotten more than $2.7 million in grants for that town. He wanted to maintain choices for students interested in the trades, arts, and athletics.
Freschi has served on SCAs at the elementary, middle and high school level and on several BOE committees. She is the owner of a Verona-based business that helps businesses source the materials they need and advises on their supply chains.
Perry, a resident of Ann Street, is a graduate of William Paterson University who has been employed at HBO for more than a decade. He is the father of three children, including a son in fifth grade, a daughter in fourth, and another daughter entering kindergarten in 2015. He has been a T-ball coach in the past and served on F.N. Brown’s Fourth Grade Farewell committee
MyVeronaNJ.com will be profiling all of the candidates at length over the coming weeks. The election is Tuesday, November 4.
