Divided, Alders Approve Ed Board Reappointments

by Laura Glesby The New Haven independent

Ten alders tried and failed to sink the mayor’s reappointment of two Board of Education members — including the school board’s president — in a rare split stemming from disagreements around school board finances, transparency, and the committee process for vetting candidates.

The Board of Alders took those 15 to 10 votes Monday night to officially approve Mayor Justin Elicker’s reappointment of OrLando Yarborough and Abie Quiñones-Benítez to new four-year terms on the Board of Education.

The vote took place in the Aldermanic Chamber in City Hall, three weeks after the Aldermanic Affairs Committee unanimously advanced their appointments without asking questions of either of the candidates.

Neither Quiñones-Benítez nor Yarborough showed up to that Aldermanic Affairs meeting, even though previous Board of Ed members up for reappointment have faced extensive questioning from the Aldermanic Affairs Committee.

Quiñones-Benítez told the Independent that she had believed she would be interviewed by the committee at a later date, while Yarborough (who is the Board of Education’s president) said he’d been virtually attending a concurrent Board of Ed meeting in a separate room of City Hall, while waiting to be called in by alders.

The two school board members didn’t show up to Monday night’s full board meeting, either.

With five alders absent, a total of 15 alders voted to approve the two mayoral appointments on Monday: Evelyn Rodriguez (Ward 4), Kampton Singh (Ward 5), Carmen Rodriguez (Ward 6), Eli Sabin (Ward 7), Henry Murphy (Ward 11), Theresa Morant (Ward 12), Rosa Ferraro-Santana (Ward 13), Jose Crespo (Ward 16), Sal Punzo (Ward 17), Kim Edwards (Ward 19), Brittiany Mabery-Niblack (Ward 20), Jeanette Morrison (President Pro Tempore, Ward 22), Tyisha Walker-Myers (President, Ward 23), Adam Marchand (Ward 25), and Amy Marx (Ward 26).

In an unusually large ripple of dissent, 10 alders voted against the reappointments: Kiana Flores (Ward 1), Frank Douglass (Ward 2), Caroline Tanbee Smith (Ward 9), Anna Festa (Ward 10), Sarah Miller (Ward 14), Frank Redente (Ward 15), Troy Streater (Ward 21), Richard Furlow (Majority Leader, Ward 27), Gary Hogan (Ward 28), and Honda Smith (Ward 30).

On the floor, Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Ferraro-Santana, who chairs the Aldermanic Affairs Committee, defended the process that led the committee to favorably recommend both candidates.

“According to our rules, anyone that has 100 percent attendance is not required to attend,” Ferraro-Santana said.

(So far in 2025, both Yarborough and Quiñones-Benítez have near-perfect attendance at full Board of Ed meetings. According to attendance records submitted to alders ahead of the vote, they each missed one meeting over the summer.)

Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo specifically praised Quiñones-Benítez as “an exceptional educator” who contributes an “extremely valuable perspective and experience to the Board.”

No one else spoke up during the meeting to explain their vote, but several other alders offered their perspectives in interviews after the meeting.

Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison echoed Crespo’s specific praise of Quiñones-Benítez. “She’s a longtime educator, educating kids in various capacities,” Morrison said.

West Hills/West Rock Alder Honda Smith, on the other hand, took issue with the fact that Quiñones-Benítez primarily attends Board of Education meetings via Zoom and questioned wither Quiñones-Benítez actually lives in New Haven.

Yarborough did not respond to a request for comment on Monday night.

Update: At 3:05 a.m. Tuesday, Quiñones-Benítez texted the Independent the following message in response to a question about Smith’s critique: “Virtual attendance is due to health, simultaneous meetings with the alders and travel for work. I am a taxpayer, providing revenue to the city and a voter in New Haven. I continue to support this city at no cost to its constituents.” She said she does live in New Haven.

She continued: “I believe Dr. Yarborough and I have worked very hard even with many professional and family obligations. I thank the alders for recognizing our efforts.”

In general, Smith argued that the Board of Ed members are not critical enough about the decisions they collectively make.

“I think there needs to be a diverse group of people that are not gonna be a ‘yes’ group,” Smith said. “There’s too much agreeing going on.”

She argued that the “deplorable condition” of school buildings is one casualty of a lack of initiative from the Board of Ed members.

“I think it can be more,” Smith said of the Board of Ed.

East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith said she voted against the reappointments not because of the particular people up for review, but because she wanted to “encourage a restart of the process” so that alders have an opportunity to question the two candidates.

She stressed the importance of “ensuring we have a rigorous, thoughtful process” to vet the Board of Ed candidates.

Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller echoed that concern about the lack of an interview for either board member. “I think it’s just kind of 101 when you’re in a position of this much importance to the city that you show up for your interview with the Board of Alders, and that’s your priority,” she said.

Miller alluded to the fact that neither candidate is a parent of a public school student, with Yarborough’s school-aged child currently attending a private school. “I think it is so important to have people on the board whose own children’s futures are impacted by the board,” Miller said.

She also argued that there isn’t enough transparency from the Board of Education, which released a line-by-line budget for the school system to the public only one day before voting on it and which deliberately offered an oral evaluation of the superintendent of schools so that it would not be subject to Freedom of Information Act laws.

Newhallville Alder Troy Streater also cited an insufficiently detailed budget released by the Board of Ed as the primary reason behind his objection to the reappointments. “I feel that change is needed,” he said.

And Majority Leader and Westville/Amity Alder Richard Furlow said he voted against the appointments due to the school system’s financial strains, as well as the Board of Education’s outsourcing of custodial work to the to private contractors.

While the alders who voted against the reappointments offered a range of different motivations, several who voted in favor of the reappointments echoed a common refrain.

“The committee was unanimous and followed their procedures,” said Westville Alder Amy Marx.

“It came before the committee. The procedure was followed,” said Annex Alder Sal Punzo.

“The committee did the work,” as Morrison put it.

Marx questioned why none of the opponents of the reappointments had spoken on the floor about their position.

“I felt that the process had been transparent by the chair,” Marx said, adding, “it’s an appointment by a mayor I respect.”

Both Marx and Punzo noted that several people attended the Aldermanic Affairs meeting to offer positive testimony about the Board of Education. (Five members of the public appeared before the committee, seated beside two New Haven Public Schools administrators, to testify specifically in support of Yarborough.)

And as for the two board members themselves, Punzo said, “They’re probably doing a good job.”