Elissa Malespina
SOUTH ORANGE — South Orange resident Elissa Malespina announced Aug. 29 that she will no longer seek a seat on the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education.
As of now, the board of education election will see five candidates run for three seats left vacant by the departure of First Vice President Sandra Karriem, Second Vice President Bill Gaudelli and Andrea Wren-Hardin. Donna Smith of South Orange, Maureen Jones of Maplewood, Elizabeth Baker of Maplewood, Godwin Molokwu of Maplewood and Anthony Mazzocchi of Maplewood will all be vying for the open three-year positions.
Malespina and Smith had previously announced a joint campaign. Baker and Jones are still running a joint campaign.
“This was a very difficult decision. A unique opportunity to publish a book on augmented reality in education recently presented itself and it’s a project that will take considerable time and focus. Showing other educators how to leverage technology tools in the classroom is such a passion of mine, and is a way for me to make an impact not just in my own community, but nationwide,” Malespina said in the Aug. 29 press release. “After discussing it with my running mate, I’ve made the decision to move forward with this project and consider a run for the Board of Education in the future.”
Malespina, a 19-year resident of South Orange and former librarian at South Orange Middle School, said in the release that she will continue to remain involved with the school district and hopes the issues she brought to the table while campaigning will continue to be discussed by all the candidates in the coming weeks.
“Increasing stakeholder involvement, building better relationships between teachers and administrators, doing a thoughtful superintendent search, infusing more technology into classrooms, taking a good look at the IB program and increasing training for implementation of these types of initiatives — these are all issues that I care a lot about,” Malespina said in the release.
Smith, Malespina’s former running mate, supports the decision, according to the release, and hopes Malespina will consider a run in the future.
“Elissa brings a lot of great ideas and energy to the table that I think the community will benefit from,” Smith said in the release. “I’ve already learned so much from her. I understand this was a big decision and I will continue to support her in all her endeavors. I know she’ll continue to be a strong voice in our two towns and maybe the timing will be better in the future.”