Two members of the Upper Township Board of Education and one member of the Ocean City Board of Education are not seeking re-election this November.
In Sea Isle City, incumbent Patricia Halfpenny is not running for another term as a representative to the Ocean City school board. Brigid Woolery is the only candidate for that spot.
In Ocean City, Henry Disston Vanderlice did not run for another term.
It will be a lock for the other two incumbents in Ocean City – Jaqueline McAlister and Chris Halliday – who are seeking re-election. McAlister, Halliday and Charles V. Roche III are the three candidates running for the three seats.
Roche was a former appointed member of the board, but he lost in the 2022 election when three Moms for Liberty-endorsed candidates were voted onto the board. Catherine Panico and Liz Nicoletti won three-year terms that expire at the end of 2025. Robin Shaffer won a one-year term but wasn’t successful in his re-election bid, losing narrowly in 2023.
In Upper Township, long-serving member Fran Newman and fellow veteran William Holmes are not seeking re-election.
Newman is the spouse of Upper Township Mayor Jay Newman, who lost his Republican primary race in June. He and Deputy Mayor Kim Hayes were defeated in the primary for Upper Township Committee by cousins Zachary Palombo and Samuel Palombo.
Fran Newman also has served as an Upper Township representative on the Ocean City Board of Education with Holmes and Kristie Brown Chisholm.
The only school board incumbent up for re-election in Upper Township is Brian Teeney.
There are four other candidates seeking the three seats. Three of them – Andrew Shawl, Thomas J. Terrell and Donald J. Polo, are running on a slate called “All About Kids.”
The fourth challenger is Earl “Bud” Smith who is running under the banner “All Students Succeed.”
The general election is Nov. 4.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
