Jersey City Public Schools elections (2014)

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2014 Jersey City Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 4, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
New Jersey Jersey City Public Schools Hudson County, New Jersey ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Three seats on the Jersey City Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014. The candidate filing deadline was July 28, 2014.

Incumbents Carol Harrison-Arnold and Bertram C. Okpokwasili sought re-election. Fellow incumbents Vidya Gangadin and Angel Valentin's terms also expired at the end of the year, but they did not file to run in the election. Harrison-Arnold and Okpokwasili were joined on the ballot by former school board member Gerald Lyons and 2013 candidates Lorenzo Richardson and Gina Verdibello. Newcomer candidates included Dominique D. Lee, Monica Kress, Michael Reilly, and Joel Torres.

Harrison-Arnold, Okpokwasili, and Kress ran as a slate under the committee called Parents for Excellence, while Richardson, Verdibello, and Lyons ran as a slate under the committee called The Children First Team.

Richardson, Lyons, and Torres won the three seats up for election.

See also: What was at stake in the Jersey City Board of Education 2014 election?

About the district

See also: Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey

Jersey City Public Schools is located in Hudson County, New Jersey

Jersey City Public Schools is located in Hudson County, New Jersey. The county seat of Hudson County is Jersey City. In 2013, Hudson County was home to approximately 660,282 residents, according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau. In 2011-2012 school year, Jersey City Public Schools was the second-largest school district by enrollment in New Jersey and served 27,397 students.

Demographics

In 2012, Hudson County had a similar percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree compared to the state overall. The United States Census Bureau reported that 35.9 percent of residents aged 25 and older in the county had earned a bachelor's degree, compared with 35.4 percent for New Jersey. The median household income in Hudson County was $58,722, below the state median of $71,637. The unemployment rate in the county was 15.7 percent, higher than the statewide rate of 9.9 percent.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Hudson County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	66.1	73.4
Black or African American	15.1	14.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.2	0.6
Asian	15.0	9.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Two or More Races	2.5	2.0
Hispanic or Latino	42.9	18.9

Presidential Voting Pattern, Hudson County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	153,108	42,369
2008	154,140	55,360
2004	127,447	60,646
2000	118,206	43,804

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

As of the 2014 election, the Jersey City Board of Education consisted of seven nonpartisan members who were elected at large to three-year terms. Candidates for the Board of Education must be 18 years old and have resided within the district for at least one year before their election or appointment. There are no term limits.

Candidates were required to submit nominating petitions with 10 signatures to the county clerk by the filing deadline on July 28, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. Voters had to register by October 14, 2014, to vote in the election.

Elections

2014

Sample ballot for the Jersey City Board of Education 2014 election.

Candidates

At-large

• Carol Harrison-Arnold
  • Incumbent, first elected in 2011
  • Attorney
• Bertram C. Okpokwasili
  • Incumbent, appointed on April 24, 2014
  • J.D., Rutgers School of Law
  • Attorney and adjunct professor
• Gerald Lyons
  • Former board member
  • Associate's degree, Hudson County Community College
  • B.A., Thomas Edison State College
  • Master's degree in educational technology, New Jersey City University
  • Supervisor of instruction at Hudson County Schools of Technology
• Monica Kress
  • Former high school biology and chemistry teacher
  • Master's in teaching, Pace University
  • Director of school operations for a Newark charter elementary school
• Dominique D. Lee
  • University of Michigan graduate
  • Teach for America alumnus
  • Brick Avon Academy founder
• Michael Reilly
• Lorenzo Richardson
  • Returning candidate from 2013
• Joel Torres
  • St. Mary's Grammar and High School
  • B.S. in public health and M.A. in public and organizational relations, Montclair State University
  • Senior coordinator and policy advocacy advisor for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team (ADAPT)
• Gina Verdibello
  • Bachelor's degree in art history, Rutgers University
  • Real estate agent

Election results

Jersey City Public Schools,
At-large General Election, 3-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Lorenzo Richardson	22.1%	12,472
	Nonpartisan	Joel Torres	19.2%	10,854
	Nonpartisan	Gerald Lyons	16.9%	9,568
	Nonpartisan	Monica Kress	11.3%	6,383
	Nonpartisan	Carol Harrison-Arnold Incumbent	10.9%	6,133
	Nonpartisan	Bertram C. Okpokwasili Incumbent	10.7%	6,034
	Nonpartisan	Gina Verdibello	5.3%	2,999
	Nonpartisan	Michael Reilly	3.5%	1,988
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	88
Total Votes				56,519
Source: Hudson County Clerk, "General Election November 4, 2014, Official Results," November 17, 2014

Endorsements

Gerald Lyons, Lorenzo Richardson, and Joel Torres were endorsed by Jersey City Education Association and its president, Ron Greco.

Campaign finance

No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election as of October 15, 2014, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidates were not required to declare their contributions unless they exceeded $4,500.00 in total. The last campaign finance report before the election was due on October 24, 2014, and the final report was due on November 24, 2014.

Past elections

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

2013 See also: Jersey City Public Schools elections (2013) Jersey City Public Schools, At-large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Jessica Daye 21.1% 9,351      Nonpartisan Micheline Amy 17.7% 7,879      Nonpartisan Ellen Simon 10.6% 4,702      Nonpartisan Lorenzo Richardson 10.2% 4,511      Nonpartisan Gerald Lyons Incumbent 8.9% 3,950      Nonpartisan Gina Verdibello 7.6% 3,383      Nonpartisan Kevaan G. Walton 6.2% 2,770      Nonpartisan Denise Davis 4.8% 2,137      Nonpartisan Dejon Morris 4.3% 1,914      Nonpartisan Carol L. Gabriel 2.7% 1,214      Nonpartisan Josephine Paige 2.2% 982      Nonpartisan Susan Harbace 2.2% 961      Nonpartisan Telissa E. Dowling 1.4% 608      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 44 Total Votes 44,406 Source: Hudson County Clerk, "Official Election Results," November 14, 2013 Jersey City Public Schools, At-large General Election, 1-year unexpired term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Angel Valentin Incumbent 54.1% 7,698      Nonpartisan Carol Lester Incumbent 45.7% 6,506      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 26 Total Votes 14,230 Source: Hudson County Clerk, "Official Election Results," November 14, 2013 2012 Jersey City Public Schools, At-large General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Marilyn Roman 20.5% 4,501      Nonpartisan Vidya Gangadin 19.2% 4,220      Nonpartisan Sangeeta Ranade 17.1% 3,762      Nonpartisan Gerald M. Lyons 13.5% 2,968      Nonpartisan Frank Lorenzo 11.3% 2,490      Nonpartisan Amanda Khan 10.8% 2,370      Nonpartisan DeJon Morris 5.6% 1,233      Nonpartisan Jayson H. Burg 1.9% 415      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 20 Total Votes 21,979 Source: Hudson County, New Jersey, "2012 School Board Election," accessed October 28, 2013

What was at stake?

Issues

High school	2012 ranking	2014 ranking
William L. Dickinson	302	304
James J. Ferris	270	299
Liberty	186	268
Lincoln	294	328
Dr. Ronald McNair	2	62
Henry Snyder	279	319

Issues in the district

NJM ranking

The magazine New Jersey Monthly ranked 339 New Jersey high schools in 2012 and 2014. The analysis for the report was conducted by the research company Leflein Associates. The report weighted school environment at 1, student performance at 1.5, and student outcomes at 2.1. All six of Jersey City's high schools included in the comparison ranked lower in 2014 than they did in 2012. The chart on the right illustrates the 2012 and 2014 ranks of each high school covered by the report.

Security lapse

On September 23, 2014, an eight-year-old autistic child who attended Public School 27 went missing during dismissal at the school. He was later found at a bus stop in Union City. According to spokeswoman for the district Maryann Dickar, "Security is always tasked with making sure that kids don't wander out of the school; however, the incident occurred at dismissal time, when many people are going in and out of the building."

Internet access

JerseyOn, a nonprofit organization, launched its program to provide high-speed internet access to students at home. The organization provided a mobile hot spot device with one gigabyte of data per month for up to three electronic devices for a one-time fee of $40, as well as options for unlimited internet access for $10 per month and refurbished laptops and tablets. To be eligible for the program, students had to qualify for the free or reduced-price lunch program. According to school officials, 80 percent of students at one Jersey City Public School, Lincoln High School, did not have high-speed internet in their homes before the program.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Jersey City Public Schools election in 2014.

Deadline	Event
July 28, 2014	Petition filing deadline for candidates
October 6, 2014	Campaign finance reports due
October 14, 2014	Voter registration deadline
October 24, 2014	Campaign finance reports due
October 28, 2014	Mail-in ballot application period ended
November 4, 2014	Election Day
November 24, 2014	Campaign finance reports due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: New Jersey elections, 2014

This election shared the ballot with the general elections for the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, two statewide ballot measures, county offices, and municipal offices.

See also

• New Jersey
• Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey
• New Jersey school board elections, 2014
• List of school board elections in 2014
• School board elections, 2014
• Hudson County, New Jersey ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, New Jersey

External links

Suggest a link

• Jersey City Public Schools
• Hudson County Clerk’s Office