Nutley Board of Education: November 3, 2026

Three of the nine seats on the Nutley Board of Education are on the ballot on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The board sets policy for the Nutley Public School District, adopts a budget of just over $101 million, and hires and evaluates the superintendent. Members serve three years and are not paid.

Five candidates filed by the July 27 deadline. Since then the board's president withdrew from the race, and two more residents filed to take the ballot spot that opened up. As of August 17, 2026 the field is not final and the ballot order is not settled.

There is no debate, no candidate forum and no party primary in a New Jersey school board race, and no public filing in which candidates state their positions.

What the board actually does

• Nine members, elected by Nutley voters, each serving a three-year term. Three seats come up each year. Source: Nutley Public Schools
• The races are nonpartisan. Candidates do not run in a primary and do not appear on the ballot under a party. They may group themselves under a shared ballot slogan. Source: New Jersey School Boards Association
• The board is a policy-setting body and does not run the district. In its own words, it "is not responsible for the administration of the district." The superintendent handles day-to-day operations and implements policy. The board hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts the budget, and sets policy. Source: Nutley Public Schools
• The president and vice president are chosen by the other members, not by voters, at the annual January reorganization meeting. Source: Nutley Public Schools
• Members attend one to two public meetings a month, on Monday nights in the John H. Walker Middle School auditorium, and serve on Administrative, Academic, Finance and Policy committees. Source: Nutley Public Schools
• The board's fiscal decisions have been subject to a state monitor appointed in May 2024 with fiscal control of the district.

🟢 Who has filed

As of August 17, 2026. Three seats are open. Ballot positions 1 through 4 were drawn before the field changed; where Chris Corino and Janine Delaney appear has not been announced. Because a candidate withdrew, replacement petitions may be filed through August 20, 2026, which is 75 days before the election, so the field can still change. Source: N.J.S.A. 19:13-19

Sources: TAPinto, July 27 · TAPinto, August 11 · TAPinto, August 13 · TAPinto, August 17 · The Jersey Bee, January 2024

🟡 The three seats on the ballot appear to be those held by Danchak-Martin, Balsamo and Ferraro. All three were elected in November 2023 and sworn in at the January 3, 2024 reorganization meeting, which puts their three-year terms up this year. The district does not publish term expiration dates.

Key dates for voters

Source: TAPinto. Confirm all dates with the Essex County Clerk and the Essex County Board of Elections.

The district's finances

A budget failure and the state oversight that followed have shaped the last three years of Nutley school board business.

• April 2024: a $7 million shortfall. An independent audit completed February 7, 2024 and a mid-year projection on March 7 led the district to verify a $7 million shortfall on March 13, which the board presented publicly on April 17. Officials attributed it to "inaccurate budgeting practices over the past several years" alongside rising healthcare, special education and transportation costs. Assistant Superintendent of Business and Board Secretary David DiPisa was placed on administrative leave, and the state ordered a forensic investigation. Source: Patch
• May 6, 2024: a state monitor takes fiscal control. The New Jersey Department of Education appointed Jeanette Makus, a retired county business administrator, as state monitor with fiscal control of the district. Superintendent Kent Bania said she "will work closely with the Nutley superintendent office and school board, and will actively be in the district and at our board of education meetings moving forward." Source: Patch
• July 2024: a state loan. The district received a zero-interest loan from the state to cover the $7 million shortfall. Bania said it would be repaid over the following decade. Source: The Jersey Bee
• April 27, 2026: the 2026–27 budget. The board held its public budget hearing. The local tax levy is $73.35 million and total operating revenues $89.8 million. The school tax rate rises to 1.46%, an increase of 0.79% over 2025; on the average Nutley home, assessed at $494,786, that is about $392 more a year. The district is $9.6 million below its state adequacy budget of $88.743 million. Savings came from consolidating sixth grade at the middle school, cuts to supplies and services, and route and coverage changes; no positions were lost and no athletic or extracurricular programs were cut. Business Administrator Michael DeVita said, "While every program in our district has value, we were deliberate in protecting those that are essential to ensuring our students meet key benchmarks." Source: Patch
• 2026–27: sixth grade moves. Sixth graders move from the elementary schools to John H. Walker Middle School, making it a 6–8 school. The space was freed by moving preschool classrooms to 777 Bloomfield Avenue, a building purchased by the township and leased to the Board of Education under the "OneNutley" initiative. Sources: TAPinto, district transition FAQ (PDF), Township of Nutley

Board meetings before the election

Meetings are held Monday nights in the John H. Walker Middle School auditorium. The district says comments and questions at a public board meeting are addressed to the board president. Confirm each date and location against the board's meeting archive before attending. Two of the six candidates currently sit on the board.

Where to look this up

Official records

• Essex County Clerk: the office candidates file with, and the authority on who is on the ballot and in what order.
• Nutley Board of Education agendas and minutes: every meeting's agenda, minutes and votes, by year. A sitting member's voting record is in the minutes.
• Board of Education members: the current roster and each member's district email address.
• NJ ELEC: New Jersey's Election Law Enforcement Commission, where campaign contributions and expenditures are reported and searchable.

Other coverage

• TAPinto Nutley: has covered each filing and withdrawal as it happened. TAPinto's published election policy states that candidate statements, press releases and op-eds are published as part of paid advertising packages.
• Patch Belleville-Nutley: covered the July filings and the district budget.
• Ballotpedia: past Nutley school board election results.