School Board Candidate James Carifi Promotes Educational Law and Order

James Carifi, 43, became a Parsippany Police captain in 2010, so it's no surprise he is about keeping better order in the schools—and on the school board.

Carifi is a decade-long Parsippany resident who's married with two kids and the brother of Town Council member Paul Carifi Jr. He is active in the youth sports scene and a member of his local PTA. 

On issues, he is outspoken on the issue of residential stacking and making sure that the only children who attend Parsippany schools are the children who live legally within the township.

At the recent Par-Troy Council of PTAs debate, Carifi announced that he had made a number of Open Public Records Act requests to the school district to find out exactly how many students were registered in district schools in violation of the law.

"They told me that as a resident of Parsippany and as a stakeholder that I didn't have a right to see the numbers," he said. "That's unacceptable to me.

"I'm for holding people accountable," Carifi continued, reiterating that he was "aggressively" against students "who don't belong."

The police captain also said he would make the state Department of Education's nepotism law stronger.

One entity in need of more order, according to Carifi, is the Board of Education itself. He decried the factionalism many perceive within the body and insisted that it should not be necessary for a school board to hire a mediator to help its members get along and work together professionally.

He also stood along with his running mate, Anthony DeIntinis, in opposition to the controversial contract of Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz, suggesting that the district hire a new superintendent from within [which is an unlikely process; according to the New Jersey School Boards Association, in order to become a superintendent in New Jersey, one must be specially certified, which is a long, arduous process for which a hiring process could not wait].

Another important issue for Carifi is making sure drug use is not tolerated on school property. He, with the agreement of his ticketmate, suggested bringing Morris County's K-9 Unit into schools and searching student lockers.

"Even if they don't catch anybody, kids will know they can't bring it to school and that people are checking." he said.