Attorney Ramya Kasthuri Appointed to NJ Board of Education, 7 Candidates File to Run in November

Indian American attorney Ramya Kasthuri has been appointed to the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, Board of Education. (LinkedIn photo)

India-West Staff Reporter

Indian American attorney Ramya Kasthuri was appointed to serve on the Board of Education in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, rounding out the board to full capacity during a July 22 special meeting.

Kasthuri, a former educator, was appointed to fill the seat left vacant in June after the death of longtime board member Helen Kirsch.

She will serve on the board through December 2021, at which time the seat will be filled by a candidate chosen by voters during the November election, according to reports.

Kasthuri ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board in 2020, receiving 1,920 votes and coming in fourth in a field of five candidates (see India-West article here: https://bit.ly/3jdBeuW).

She will be one of seven candidates seeking a seat on the board, with two, three-year seats on the board — one held by Doug Reinstein; the other by Chris Reilly — as well as Kirsch’s one-year unexpired term, up for grabs on the November ballot.

Kasthuri will be up against Sai Bhargavi Akiri to fill in Kirsch’s vacated seat. Akiri was also a candidate in the 2020 election for the BoE. Akiri finished just ahead of Kasthuri with 18 percent of the vote to Kasthuri’s 16 percent.