JACKSON — A sitting member of the Jackson School District Board of Education came up short in her bid for re-election on Nov. 6.
According to unofficial results, residents returned incumbents Marvin Krakower and Theresa Schiazza to the board and elected Adam Silvan to his first term.
Tracey Murnane, who was seeking reelection, did not retain her seat.
The winning candidates will serve threeyear terms beginning in January.
According to the unofficial results, Schiazza and Krakower retained their seats with 13,767 votes and 11,102 votes, respectively. Silvan won a seat with 12,023 votes.
Murnane received 9,280 votes in an unsuccessful bid to continue her service to the school district.
The results are unofficial until they are certified by Ocean County. That process may take a week or more.
Commenting on the results, Silvan said, “I am very excited. I am looking forward to working with the other six board members to keep the momentum going on some of the changes they made and to get working on some of my cost-saving education improvement ideas moving forward.”
Silvan is a certified public accountant and director of tax for a large retail company. He said he believes his financial knowledge will be an asset to the board.
He also said his status as a newcomer is what ultimately led to his win at the polls.
“The current board does a good job, but I think some new blood was needed and wanted. Some people were just looking for a change,” Silvan said. “In general, I think people were looking for a fresh perspective on budgeting and education needs.”
Silvan said he has been preparing for his new role as a board member.
“I have been doing a lot of research on current issues, like the superintendent search, since that will be one of the first things I will be involved in,” he said.
Reflecting on the election results, Murnane said, “That’s just the way the dice fell, unfortunately. What I did speaks for itself and I wish the board and the district all the best with the superintendent search and implementation of the new curriculum going forward.”
Murnane said there may have been two reasons why she was not re-elected.
“Part of it is about positioning [on the ballot]. I would also say that I am not an aggressive campaigner because it’s not in my wheelhouse and I think there were so many other higher level elections [contested on Nov. 6],” she said.
On the ballot, Murnane was last on the list of the four Jackson school board candidates.
“When I was elected, I was on the top of the ballot. This time around I was fourth on the list and I didn’t make it,” she said.
At this time, Murnane said, she is not closing the door on the idea of running for a seat on the board in the future.
“I won’t discount anything. Campaigning is a very difficult thing for me to do. It doesn’t come naturally to me,” she said.