In the final hours of 2025, the outgoing Essex County School Board voted 4-to-1 to terminate Superintendent Dr. Marvin Jones, who had been on the job only since July. The vote followed a five-hour closed session, with only re-elected board member, Garlyn Bundy, supporting Jones. His attorney says the hearing violated due process and that Jones was given no prior warning about many of the 22 cited reasons for his firing. Jones hopes the newly seated board could reverse the decision, while the board cites performance and management issues as the cause for the abrupt dismissal.
