The Cherry Hill Board of Education is collecting résumés to fill the seat Kurt Braddock vacated Oct. 13, with an appointment expected by late November.
Board President Gina Winters outlined the process at the board's Oct. 13 meeting, as first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The district will advertise the opening, accept résumés and hold interviews before the remaining board members vote on an appointee, she said.
As we reported Oct. 15, Braddock cited a recent promotion at American University, where he is an assistant professor, as the reason he could no longer serve on the nine-member board. He was elected in 2024 to a term that runs through 2027.
How the process works
Under New Jersey law, the remaining board members fill a vacancy by majority vote. They have 65 days from the date the vacancy occurs to make an appointment, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association. If the board misses that deadline, the county superintendent steps in and makes the appointment instead.
The NJSBA says boards typically conduct interviews in open session and may allow time for public comment before the vote. The final vote itself must happen in open session. One member makes a motion to appoint a candidate by name, the motion is seconded, and a roll-call vote follows. Deliberations before that vote may take place in closed session, according to the NJSBA.
Once appointed, the new member must complete a criminal background check within 30 days and file financial disclosure forms with the School Ethics Commission.
How long the appointee serves
The appointee will not serve the full remainder of Braddock's term. Because Cherry Hill holds November elections and the vacancy occurred after the third Monday in July, the appointee would serve until the organizational meeting following the November 2028 election, according to NJSBA governance guidelines. The remaining portion of Braddock's term would then go before voters in November 2028.
A busy election season
The vacancy adds a fourth seat in flux on the nine-member board. Seven candidates, including two incumbents, are already running for three open seats in the November election. At a candidates' forum Sept. 15 at Cherry Hill High School West, the school budget and uncertainty over state funding were cited as the biggest challenges facing the district, the Inquirer reported.
The deadline matters. If the board does not appoint someone within 65 days, the decision passes to the county superintendent.
"If you're interested in board service, I really encourage everybody in the community who thinks they might be interested to apply to fill the vacancy," Winters said at the Oct. 13 meeting.
