Two school board seats quietly disappeared from East Newark's November 3 ballot, and now the borough's own schools superintendent is demanding a state investigation into how that happened. Assemblywoman Dr. Rosy Bagolie, who also serves as East Newark's Superintendent of Schools, is calling for a probe into possible election interference, conspiracy and official misconduct tied to the missing seats.
Bagolie said she sent a letter this week to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and East Newark Public Schools Administrator/Secretary Stephen Frost, according to Hudson County View. No candidates had filed for the two available two-year Board of Education terms, and rather than leave them open for a write-in contest, Board of Education attorney Karen Murray determined the elections for those seats could simply be canceled.
Why the Seats Were Pulled
Murray's reasoning, per the same report, rests on a separate referendum also on Tuesday's ballot asking East Newark voters whether to shrink the Board of Education from nine members to seven. Because voters might approve that reduction and eliminate two seats anyway, Murray decided the elections for the vacant two-year terms could be scrapped before anyone even got the chance to vote on them.
Bagolie rejects that logic entirely. She argued that reducing a board from nine members to seven is a phased process that, if East Newark voters are to decide it, must come from a voting majority — not be assumed in advance. She said she was shocked by the actions of the board president and attorney, and said she supports a thorough investigation into how two people determined what ballot options were available to East Newark voters.
She went further, accusing Murray of acting on Board President Heather Leone's behalf in making the call to cancel the elections. East Newark school officials did not return inquiries seeking comment Friday, the outlet reported.
A Separate Outlet Finds No Paper Trail
The New Jersey Globe reported independently that the two seats remain legally authorized despite being left off the ballot. The Globe found no record that the East Newark Board of Education ever voted to eliminate the two seats or formally authorized their removal from the ballot.
The Globe also traced a messier recent history with these seats. In the 2025 school-board election, three people won through write-in votes, but two failed to satisfy the legal requirements to take office. The Hudson County Superintendent of Schools subsequently appointed Fernando Fernandez and Jessica Diaz to serve until an election could be held — the very election now in dispute.
What Else Is on Tuesday's Ballot
Beyond the referendum fight, East Newark voters are still set to elect three trustees to three-year terms on Tuesday, and none of those three seats is opposed. Board President Heather Leone and Vice President Lisa Ditchkus are both seeking new terms among that slate, per Hudson County View's reporting.
East Newark is not the only New Jersey district wrestling with this exact combination this cycle. Lakewood Township voters were also choosing three school board members while separately deciding whether to shrink their own board from nine members to seven, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Whether the Attorney General's Office or any other agency acts on Bagolie's letter remains to be seen, as does the outcome of Tuesday's referendum itself. For now, the dispute leaves East Newark voters heading to the polls without a clear answer on why two seats they might have filled simply were not there to vote on.
