MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — As three new members were sworn into the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, another seat opened up at the Jan. 7 reorganization meeting. Javier Farfan resigned from his seat on the board just one year into his three-year term, which he won in November 2018. He cited his work and family commitments as the reason for his resignation at both the meeting and in an interview with the News-Record.
“The main reason has to do with workload. I’m a professor at Seton Hall University and I have several clients as well,” Farfan, who teaches marketing, said in a phone interview on Jan. 13. “I wanted to be thinking about what the community needed. I also have a 5 year old, and all the nights away were taking from my time with him. Those were the main reasons.”
Of the 22 meetings that were held in 2019, Farfan was absent from seven, according to meeting minutes. Three of the seven were regular meetings, one was a board retreat and three were special meetings. Farfan was not present at the special meeting held April 11, at which the BOE voted to hire Superintendent Ronald Taylor; he did send a statement of support for Taylor’s hiring, which BOE President Annemarie Maini read aloud.
Maini, who was reelected BOE president at the Jan. 7 meeting, sent the News-Record a statement about the process for filling Farfan’s now vacant seat on the board in an email on Jan. 8. The vacancy will be filled by an appointment made by the remaining members of the board at a meeting on Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m.
“The person appointed by the board will become a full member of the board and serve in that position until the next reorganization meeting in January 2021,” the statement said. “That person and anyone in the community will have the opportunity to file a petition to run for election to complete the remaining one year of this seat in the election to be held on Nov. 3, 2020.”
People who are interested in applying for the empty BOE seat are asked to submit a letter of interest, resume and other information indicating their qualifications.
“This information should be presented in a form that will assist the Board of Education in making an appointment,” the statement said. “Please include reasons your selection to the school board would be of value to the district and the students.
The materials should be mailed to the attention of Paul Roth, School Business Administrator / Board Secretary, c/o South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education, 525 Academy St., Maplewood, NJ 07040, according to the statement.
“Interviews with candidates for the board vacancy will be conducted in public on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, beginning at 7 p.m.,” it said. “All applicants will be provided the opportunity to make a brief five-minute statement that elaborates on the letter and resume; reasons for wanting to serve, qualifications and areas of priority. The board will follow up with any questions. After all statements and questions are concluded, the board will adjourn to executive session to deliberate. Upon returning from executive session the board will make nominations of candidates and then move to a roll call vote to appoint one of the candidates. The candidate with a majority of votes from the members of the board present will immediately take the oath of office and be seated.”
More information can be found at www.somsd.k12.nj.us/headlines/2020/01/08/notice-of-board-vacancy.
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