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The Newark school board voted to appoint Melissa Reed to fill a board seat that was left empty after one of its longest-serving members abruptly resigned last month.
Reed, a 29-year-old district leader for the South Ward and Newark Public Schools graduate, won a unanimous vote at a board meeting Thursday to join the Newark Board of Education and succeed former member Dawn Haynes. She will serve a one-year term up for election in April 2026. She was one of seven candidates interviewed by the board on Thursday, including several former school board candidates.
In total, nine people applied to fill the vacant board seat, according to information obtained through a public records request. The district was accepting applications for the position until June 2.
Reed’s swearing-in was added to a special school board meeting originally scheduled for so-called “Donaldson hearings,” where staff members can appeal a district decision not to renew their contracts. The agenda for the meeting was posted less than an hour before the meeting began and did not mention the board’s intent to swear in a new member.
Reed recited the oath of office in front of her new board colleagues and attendees, as her sister held the Bible. She then sat in the empty board seat and addressed the other contenders for the seat, many of whom she knew and had worked with.
“You guys have been in the community for years. Like, when I walked through the door, I greeted everybody, because all you guys’ faces are familiar,” she said. “We all do the same thing. We all have the love and passion and compassion for our kids, and we want a better community, and we want a better city for the people that live here.”
She added: “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean that I can’t work with you.”
Reed’s selection is the latest reshuffling of board members and comes after Haynes, who was elected in 2018 and serving her third term, resigned from the board as of May 1. Last school year, Thomas Luna, a charter school teacher, won a unanimous board vote to fill an empty seat after former board President Asia Norton suddenly resigned. But the school board refused to swear in Luna and eventually appointed someone else.
Haynes was under scrutiny from district Superintendent Roger León and other leaders after her daughter filed a legal claim against the district alleging religious, racial, and gender discrimination, and other harassment during her time as a student at Newark School of Global Studies. In November 2024, the school board voted to ask the state education department to recommend removing Haynes on grounds that her daughter’s claim led to a conflict of interest. But the state education commissioner shot down the petition in January.
Reed will join the other eight board members in deciding policies for New Jersey’s largest school system, which has roughly 40,000 students across 64 schools. The board is also tasked with holding the superintendent accountable and addressing the public schools’ most pressing issues, such as managing district finances, transportation, facilities needs, academic recovery efforts, implementing federal and state policies, and supporting its growing number of students, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
The school board has also faced criticism from the community over transparency in addressing racism in schools; the district’s decision not to pay board members’ attorneys fees in their fight against an ethics complaint initiated by a high school principal; and the board’s approval of thousands of dollars for a staff fun day that the state’s education department deemed an inappropriate use of funds.
Reed works in the Essex County Division of Senior Services and has experience working on political campaigns in Newark. She is serving a two-year term as the South Ward Democratic committee leader for Municipal District 25, a position she was elected to in 2024. She has been an advocate for policies that promote equity, sustainability, and community well-being. Before her interview with the board on Thursday, Reed told Chalkbeat she wanted to become a board member because she wanted to give back to city youth and offer transparency and support to students and parents.
During the meeting, Reed sat next to Elaine Asyah Aquil, who ran for school board this year under the All Kids Matter banner and who was also vying for the empty board seat. Reed said Aquil had inspired her to use her voice, and she praised her for her support throughout the years.
“She really motivated me, and I appreciate that so much,” Reed said.
Along with Aquil, the other candidates who interviewed for the board position were former school board candidates Ade’Kamil Kelly, who ran twice, Latoya Jackson, who ran three times, Sheila Montague, who ran three times, and Yolanda Johnson, who ran four times, along with Fawn Ross, who was vying for a board seat for the first time.
Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
