Phaedra Raddock Dunn and Melanie Deisher became the first elected members of the Moncler Education Council since the 1940s, when the city moved from a designated school board to an elected one, but voter turnout was about 8.7%.
Dunn was the best with 1,512 votes, followed by Deisher with 1,288 votes. Yvonne Bunight was third among the nine candidates with 868 votes.
In second place is Holly Shaw (669), Lauren Griffin (492), Gerald Fryer (467), Janet Williams (348), George Simpson (204) and Noah Gale (173). Dan and Discher were partners.
According to the Essex County Clerk’s Office, just over 97% of all votes were counted. Ballots with a postmark before 8pm will still be counted when they arrive within the next week. It is not immediately clear how many previous ballots need to be counted, if any, or the number of ballots correcting letters that have not yet been considered.
Montclair approved a new process in a referendum in November 2021, garnering about 70% of the vote, completing nearly 75 years of experience on the school board appointed by the mayor.
The Board of Education will increase from seven members to nine, and three more seats will appear in November.
Dan and Dasher will serve 21 months. The place, which is now occupied by Alison Silverstein, will also appear in November 2023. The other three seats will appear in 2024.
Dan is a therapist and social worker who co-chaired the Montclair PTA. Discher is an occupational therapist who has been active in the PTA.
