By David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson has won the third contested school board seat in Newark, marking a significant shift in power on the advisory board as the city struggles for education reform.

In a count of provisional ballots Monday night, Baskerville-Richardson emerged with 44 more votes than runner-up Tave Padilla. With her win, Baskerville-Richardson and fellow Children First slate-member Alturrick Kenney upset two candidates backed by North Ward power broker Stephen Adubato. While the board is advisory only, they are the only officials elected to represent the city in school matters and their opinion carries a lot of weight.

"I look forward to contributing to the improvement of education for all of Newark's children," Baskerville-Richardson said. "True reform is not a quick fix; it's an ongoing process that must reflect the true needs of the students and include and respect the Newark community."

Campaign manager Anthony Salters praised the credentials of Kenney and Baskerville-Richardson and also cited missteps in the reform process as major factors in his team's win.

"I think that the Children First team had a solid platform and Alturrick and Atoinette will carry forth that agenda with integrity," Salters said.

But when a confidential memo was leaked in February showing a plan to expand charter schools and potentially close local district schools, it spawned community outrage that helped mobilize support for the ticket.

"Everyone will agree that the Newark Public Schools need radical change," Salters said this morning. "But at the same time you cannot disenfranchise people."

"They were thinking that the the general population of Newark was stupid and didn't know what was going on," Salters said of district and state officials who drafted the plan. "This electorate is a lot smarter than people think."

Baskerville-Richardson and Kenney ran on a pro-labor platform, advocating for more attention to be focused on fixing district schools rather than replacing them with charters. Along with board member Marques Lewis, they represent three votes on the nine-member board that are expected to support more traditional public school models.

Still the top vote-getter was Eliana Pintor-Marin who was backed by Adubato on the For Our Kids slate. While two of his candidates lost, Adubato still holds sway over four board members, but no longer commands the majority as has been the case in years past.

Current chairman Shavar Jeffries and Nakia White, are not closely tied to either camp and have both been supportive of reform measures.

Tonight at 6 p.m. the board holds its reorganization meeting at Louise Spencer school where a new chairperson is expected to be voted into office.