Clifton Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Clifton Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
New Jersey Clifton Public Schools Passaic County, New Jersey ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Four seats on the Clifton Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. Three seats up for election were for three-year terms, while one seat was an unexpired one-year term. Incumbents Tafari Anderson and James Daley won re-election to three-year terms, while Lawrence Grasso joined the board for a full term. Michael Evans defeated John Houston and Bharat Rana for the one-year term.

A major issue in the race was an effort by the school board to implement a school uniform policies for elementary schools. The board sought unsuccessfully to implement uniforms in 2009 and 2012. The latest effort was halted with the disbanding of a school uniform subcommittee in September 2015 after community opposition. Candidates attending a forum on October 5, 2015, split over the uniform policy with Tafari Anderson, Latasha Casterlow-Lalla, Michael Evans, John Houston and Jaime Placek expressing opposition to the board's efforts. James Daley, Lawrence Grasso and Bharat Rana were open to future discussions of school uniform policies.

See also: What was at stake in the 2015 Clifton Public Schools elections?

The seats of at-large incumbents Anderson, Daley and Houston were up for regularly scheduled elections. The fourth seat on the ballot was up for special election to fill an unexpired term created by Wayne Demikoff's removal from the board in February 2015. Houston ran for election to the unexpired term rather than a full three-year term. He faced fellow incumbent Evans, who was appointed to replace Demikoff, and challenger Rana. Anderson and Daley sought re-election to regular three-year terms against challengers Latasha Casterlow-Lalla, Grasso and Jaime Placek.

About the district

Clifton Public Schools is located in Passaic County, N.J.

See also: Clifton Public Schools, New Jersey

Clifton Public Schools is located in Passaic County in northern New Jersey. The county seat of Passaic County is Paterson. Passaic County was home to an estimated 508,856 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. In 2012-2013 school year, Clifton Public Schools was the 15th-largest school district by enrollment in New Jersey and served 10,949 students.

Demographics

Passaic County underperformed compared to the rest of New Jersey in terms of higher education achievement, median household income and poverty rates in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 35.8 percent for New Jersey as a whole. The median household income in Passaic County was $57,654, compared to $71,629 for the state of New Jersey. The poverty rate in Passaic County was 16.3 percent, compared to 10.4 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Passaic County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	75.4	73.0
Black or African American	14.8	14.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.5	0.6
Asian	5.7	9.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Two or More Races	2.4	2.1
Hispanic or Latino	39.6	19.3

Presidential Voting Pattern, Passaic County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	115,926	64,523
2008	113,257	72,552
2004	94,962	75,200
2000	90,324	61,043

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Voter and candidate information

See also: Voting in New Jersey

The Clifton Board of Education consists of nine nonpartisan members who are elected at large to three-year terms. Elections are staggered with three seats up for election each year. Candidates for the Board of Education must be 18 years old and have resided within the district for at least one year prior to their election or appointment. There are no term limits.

There was no primary election and the general election was November 3, 2015. Candidates had to file by July 27, 2015. The deadline for voters to register for this election was October 13, 2015.

Regular three-year terms (3 seats)

Tafari Anderson		James Daley		Latasha Casterlow-Lalla
	Incumbent First elected in 2012 Associate degree, Passaic County Community College Network engineer, St. Mary's Hospital		Incumbent First elected in 2009		Master's degree, Montclair State University Gifted and talented program supervisor, Passaic Public Schools

Lawrence Grasso		Jaime Placek
	Sales manager, Pepperidge Farm		Attorney

Unexpired one-year term (1 seat)

John Houston		Michael Evans		Bharat Rana
	Incumbent First elected in 2012 Bachelor's degree, University of Scranton Master's degree, Mt. St. Mary's University Master's degree and Ph.D., Fordham University Associate dean, Fordham University		Incumbent First appointed in 2015 Attorney		Former member, Passaic Board of Education Special education teacher

Election results

Clifton Board of Education, At-large (3-year term), General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Lawrence Grasso	26.6%	3,742
James Daley Incumbent	25.4%	3,567
Tafari Anderson Incumbent	18.8%	2,635
Jaime Placek	15.7%	2,211
Latasha Casterlow-Lalla	13.5%	1,898
Write-in votes	0.3%	42
Total Votes		14,095
Source: Passaic County, "Statement of Vote," accessed November 12, 2015

Clifton Board of Education, At-large (1-year term), General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Michael Evans	38.5%	2,005
John J. Houston	32.3%	1,681
Bharat Rana	29.2%	1,526
Write-in votes	0.19%	10
Total Votes		5,222
Source: Passaic County, "Statement of Vote," accessed November 12, 2015

Endorsements

No official endorsements were made in this election.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

Candidates received a total of $275.00 and spent a total of $0.00 as of October 27, 2015, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
At-large (Three-year term)
Tafari Anderson (incumbent)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
James Daley (incumbent)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Latasha Casterlow-Lalla	$275.00	$0.00	$275.00
Lawrence Grasso	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Jaime Placek	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
At-large (One-year term)
John J. Houston (incumbent)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Michael Evans (incumbent)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Bharat Rana	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission regulates school board campaign contributions. Candidates who receive any contributions, including their own contributions, are required to appoint a treasurer and open a bank account for their campaign contributions and expenditures. Within 10 days of doing so, candidates must file Certificates of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Individual candidates who expect to spend more than $4,500, receive more than $300 in contributions from one source or receive any cash contributions are required to file campaign finance reports. Similarly, joint campaigns exceeding the threshold of $8,500 for two candidates or $12,300 for three or more candidates must also file.

The deadline for the 29-day pre-election campaign finance report was October 5, 2015. Between October 21, 2015, and November 3, 2015, candidates and committees were required to report any expenditure or contribution from any one source in excess of $1,400 within 48 hours of receiving it. The 11-day pre-election report deadline was October 23, 2015, and the 20-day post-election report was due November 23, 2015.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2014 See also: Clifton Public Schools elections (2014) Clifton Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Arlene Agresti Incumbent 22.3% 5,551      Nonpartisan Judith A. Bassford Incumbent 22% 5,490      Nonpartisan Lucy Danny Incumbent 21.9% 5,457      Nonpartisan Andrew A. White 17.6% 4,391      Nonpartisan Jeffrey R. Camp 16% 4,001      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 53 Total Votes 24,943 Source: Passaic County Clerk, "November 4, 2014, Summary Report Official Results," November 12, 2014 2013 See also: Clifton Public Schools elections (2013) Clifton Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Gary Passenti Incumbent 27.8% 6,032      Nonpartisan Rosemary Pino 27.6% 5,974      Nonpartisan Wayne Demikoff Incumbent 22.2% 4,806      Nonpartisan Laura De Benedetto 22% 4,775      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 80 Total Votes 21,667 Source: Passaic County, New Jersey, "Summary Report," November 15, 2013 2012 Clifton Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan John Houston 35.2% 7,762      Nonpartisan James Daley Incumbent 32.7% 7,220      Nonpartisan Tafari Anderson 32.1% 7,075 Total Votes 22,057 Source: Passaic County, New Jersey, "Passaic County Official Results - 2012 General Election," accessed October 27, 2013 2010 Clifton Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Wayne Demikoff Incumbent 15.5% 3,092      Nonpartisan Gary Passenti 15.3% 3,058      Nonpartisan Mary Kowal 14% 2,789      Nonpartisan Kim Renta 13.5% 2,681      Nonpartisan Barbara Novak 11.4% 2,281      Nonpartisan John Houston 11.2% 2,240      Nonpartisan Phillip Binaso 10.9% 2,179      Nonpartisan Joseph Fazio Jr. 5.3% 1,059      Nonpartisan Gina Marie Scaduto 2.6% 509      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 45 Total Votes 19,933 Source: Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Hana Katawa, Chief Deputy Clerk of Passaic County" October 15, 2014

What was at stake?

2015

Election trends

See also: School boards in session: 2014 elections by the numbers

With four seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, 44.4 percent of seats on the board could have changed hands. Three of the four incumbents ran to retain their seats, guaranteeing at least one newcomer would join the board. A fourth incumbent, John Houston, opted to run for an unexpired one-year term rather than run for a full term in the seat he held heading into the 2015 election.

Races for the Clifton Board of Education attracted increased competition between 2012 and 2015. The average number of candidates per seat increased from 1.0 candidates in 2012 to 2.0 candidates in 2015. Incumbents seeking re-election grew over the same period, with one incumbent running in 2012 and four incumbents running in 2015.

In 2014, an average of 2.0 school board candidates ran per seat up for election in New Jersey's largest school districts. That year, 15.52 percent of board seats in those districts were unopposed, and 41.38 percent of seats went to newcomers.

Issues in the district

Uniform policy debate

District residents and the Clifton Board of Education clashed over the creation of a school uniform policy throughout 2015. The district attempted to create school uniform policies in 2009 and 2012 but failed due to criticisms during public hearings. A proposal to require elementary school students to wear school uniforms was advanced in April 2015. Board members and school officials received a survey that month requesting input into the proposal, with parents receiving the survey later in the month. According to the Clifton Journal, the district reported 77 percent approval for school uniforms from respondents.

Board President Gary Passenti appointed board members Rosemary Pino, Arlene Agresti and Judith A. Bassford to a uniform subcommittee on April 24, 2015. The board held forums required by state law on May 11 and May 18, 2015. The district contracted with Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri & Jacobs to provide legal advice including consultations on the uniform policy in June 2015. Tafari Anderson argued during an August 19 meeting that the district paid at least $20,000 in legal fees. The Clifton Journal reviewed invoices made available through public records requests and found at least $9,000 in fees related to the board's uniform policy discussion.

Board member Tafari Anderson

By June 2015, the district passed a three-month notification deadline required by state law. State statute 18A:11-8 requires district officials to notify parents or guardians of students about uniform policies at least three months prior to the first day of the school year. The uniform subcommittee and the board as a whole continued discussion of future uniform policy implementation. These discussions drew vocal opposition from a community group called Clifton Asserting Parental Rights (C.A.P.R.). This group opposed implementation of a uniform policy for several reasons, including the need for subsidies to help low-income families buy uniforms and the lack of an opt-out feature in the policy. C.A.P.R. also suggested that the policy would be difficult to change or eliminate once implemented. The group and other opponents argued that the proposal would break state law by applying school uniform requirements across all elementary schools rather than in a single school.

The board voted 5-4 to eliminate the uniform subcommittee on September 16, 2015. Anderson and Michael Evans sought to eliminate the subcommittee in May 2015, but that vote failed 5-3. Anderson, Evans, Judith A. Bassford, Lucy Danny and John Houston voted to disband the committee. Bassford, who served on the committee until June 2015, argued that the committee wasted money. The other members spoke about the board's lack of transparency on the issue and the use of taxpayer money. James Daley opposed dismantling the committee because there was a large group of residents supportive of uniforms, while Passenti cited the likelihood of future discussions in defending the committee.

Candidate	Stance
James Daley
Lawrence Grasso
Bharat Rana
Tafari Anderson
Latasha Casterlow-Lalla
Michael Evans
John Houston
Jaime Placek

Issues in the election

Candidates debate uniform policy

A forum on October 5, 2015, exposed the differences among school board candidates about the district's efforts toward a uniform policy. The forum held at Clifton High School featured a lengthy discussion about the policy and the board's approach to implementation. Incumbents Anderson, Evans and Houston along with challengers Latasha Casterlow-Lalla and Jaime Placek expressed opposition to the school uniform policy. Casterlow-Lalla did not see the need for uniforms in the district and argued for an opt-out for parents, while Placek criticized the plan along with the board's approach to developing the policy.

Daley held off on opposing the uniform policy until the board developed a draft plan for review. Lawrence Grasso echoed Daley's caution but also suggested that the policy was not under consideration because of specific incidents at elementary schools. Bharat Rana expressed a willingness to review a proposed uniform policy but wanted to shift the discussion to academic issues. The table to the right details the willingness of board candidates to support a school uniform policy similar to the policy proposed in 2015.

Discussion of school violence

In October 2015, the Clifton Journal interviewed all eight candidates about school violence in the district. The newspaper noted that incidents of school violence doubled from the 2013-2014 school year to the 2014-2015 school year based on figures from the New Jersey Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System.

The following table lists the candidates and their views on school violence and student opportunities in Clifton, according to the Clifton Journal:

Candidate	Stance on school violence	Stance on student opportunities
James Daley	Collaborate with law enforcement, develop programs to help drug users with dependencies	Create partnerships with businesses to create a medical arts academy
Lawrence Grasso	Employ Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), add middle-school resource officers and seek funding for anti-drug programs in high school	Seek input from students on their interests
Bharat Rana	Improve district relationship with parents	Learn more about cultural background of students to improve after-school activities
Tafari Anderson	Increase awareness among parents, broaden drug-prevention programs into middle schools	Partner with colleges to guarantee credits for student volunteering
Latasha Casterlow-Lalla	Engage community groups, create alternative programs to offset violent behavior	Expand Advanced Placement course offerings
Michael Evans	Increase awareness among parents, create alternative programs to offset violent behavior	Collaborate with local colleges and businesses
John Houston	Emphasize "family, church and role modeling"	Expand of Montclair State University partnership for college foundation courses
Jaime Placek	Increase security at schools, coordinated efforts between parents and school personnel	Expand existing after-school program and resource sharing by high schools

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the annual November school board elections in New Jersey in 2015:

Deadline	Event
July 27, 2015	Candidate filing deadline
August 10, 2015	Drawing of ballot positions for candidates
September 3, 2015	Deadline to amend a defective candidate petition
September 4, 2015	Candidate withdrawal deadline
October 5, 2015	Campaign finance report due
October 13, 2015	Voter registration deadline
October 23, 2015	Campaign finance report due
November 3, 2015	General Election Day
November 18, 2015	Deadline for recount applications
November 23, 2015	Campaign finance report due
December 1, 2015	Deadline to certify election results

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: New Jersey elections, 2015

This election shared the ballot with races for seats in the New Jersey General Assembly. The ballot featured races for the county's Board of Freeholders.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Clifton Public Schools elections. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Clifton Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Clifton Public Schools	New Jersey	School Boards
Clifton Public Schools elections (2013) Clifton Public Schools elections (2014) List of school districts in New Jersey	New Jersey school board elections, 2015 Public education in New Jersey Local ballot measures, New Jersey	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014 School board election data analysis, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Clifton Public Schools
• Passaic County Clerk, Elections Division
• New Jersey Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System