School Board Candidates To Debate In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Candidates vying for a seat on the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Board of Education will debate next week at a forum co-hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area.

The council debate will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3. The public may submit questions here.

A nonpartisan coalition will select a pool of topics from the submitted questions.

• Questions must follow the League policy of being issue-related and relevant to the position being sought.
• Questions may be addressed to a particular candidate, but all candidates will have the opportunity to reply.
• Questions cannot be abusive, personal, or irrelevant

This year, 12 people have filed petitions seeking election to the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Board of Education, according to the Morris County Clerk's office. Three three-year seats are up for grabs.

The candidates who filed for these seats are:

• Matthew DeVitto
• Kendra Von Achen
• Balakrishna "Bala" Samaga
• Nilesh Bagdai
• Falgun Bakhtarwala
• Cassandra Cogan
• Wendy Wright
• Nicole Dellafave
• Lily Benavides
• Deitria Smith-Snead
• Timothy P. Berrios
• Andrew Choffo

Cassandra Cogan will not be participating in the debate, according to the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area.

Von Achen and DeVitto are both incumbents on the school board.

The school board makes important community decisions, such as hiring administrators and handling property tax money. Until 2012, all school boards held elections in April, when a state law was passed allowing districts to switch to the November general election.

New Jersey's general election will be held on Nov. 7.

All forums can be viewed live and afterward on the LWV Morristown Area YouTube channel.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Board of Education debate is co-hosted by the Parsippany Woman's Club and the Daily Record.