the staff of the Ridgewood blog
PARK RIDGE, NJ – A growing group of Park Ridge residents has launched a campaign to recall Board of Education member Robert Fisher Jr., arguing that his move to Tennessee makes him unfit to represent the local community.
Fisher, who made headlines in 2023 as one of the youngest school board members ever elected in New Jersey, now attends Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he is studying legal history, psychology, and Germanistics. Despite living nearly 1,000 miles away, Fisher insists he plans to return to Park Ridge after graduation and has no intention of resigning.
Fisher was elected to the Park Ridge Board of Education in November 2023 and took office on January 3, 2024. He graduated from Park Ridge High School in 2023, holding positions on the student council and the mock trial team. Locally, he was Field Director for Senator Holly Schepisi in 2021 and Deputy Historian of the Saddle River Museum from 2022 to 2023. He now attends Vanderbilt University, where he studies Legal History, Psychology, and Germanistics. As a research assistant in two laboratories and a trained crisis counselor for America’s largest suicide hotline, Robert emphasizes data-driven solutions and mental health initiatives in education.
Why Residents Want a Recall
The recall committee, which has been communicating with voters via parkridgerecall@outlook.com, says Fisher no longer has meaningful ties to the community. They argue that he:
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Lives, works, and studies in Tennessee
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Missed 30% of board meetings in 2025, including a controversial budget session
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Rarely attends school or community events like the Park Ridge High School graduation
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Maintains only a “token” $10/month lease for a basement apartment in town to keep up the appearance of residency
“Someone who is not an active member of the community cannot effectively represent it on the Board of Education,” the group said in a statement.
The recall committee aims to collect about 1,900 signatures, which is 25% of registered Park Ridge voters, to get the recall measure on the November ballot.
Fisher Defends His Role
In an emailed response, Fisher pushed back against the allegations, emphasizing his commitment to Park Ridge despite attending college out of state.
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He says he has spent thousands of dollars flying back to New Jersey for board meetings.
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He maintains a valid rental contract in Park Ridge and insists his residency is protected under New Jersey law for college students intending to return home.
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Fisher claims his absences have never triggered disciplinary action and says “valid reasons, such as illness or legitimate conflicts,” have caused occasional missed meetings.
“I have flown tens of thousands of miles because I believe the community deserves higher-performing schools, lower taxes, and a transparent BOE that works for Park Ridge, not special interest groups,” Fisher said.
He also criticized the board for rejecting a remote call-in option that would allow members to attend meetings virtually when out of town or ill.
Recall Petition Drive Underway
The recall committee has scheduled drive-through petition signing events:
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July 17 at Fairview Court
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July 19, 10 AM–4 PM at 212 Alberon Drive
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July 20, 6–8 PM at 5 Fairview Court
The effort is being spearheaded by residents Laura Clark, Mary McNamara, and Rebecca Anastos, along with about a dozen other volunteers.
Background on Fisher’s Election
Fisher was elected to the Park Ridge Board of Education in November 2023, just months after graduating from Park Ridge High School. He ran unopposed and finished third with 1,370 votes.
While at Park Ridge High, Fisher was involved in student council, mock trial, and political campaigns, including working as a field director for State Sen. Holly Schepisi.
Today, he balances college life with research assistant work in two labs and serves as a trained crisis counselor for America’s largest suicide hotline.
What’s Next for Park Ridge?
If the committee collects enough valid signatures, the recall question will appear on the November election ballot, allowing voters to decide whether Fisher should remain on the board.
For now, the controversy raises questions about how local school boards should handle representation when members move away for college or work, and whether remote participation should be allowed.
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Ridiculous. You have to live where you serve, period.
He looks like a junior in high school.
Mr. Fisher does not live in Tennessee. He actually lives in Florida with his father, who sold his house and moved from Park Ridge to Florida some months ago. The Park Ridge house sale closed on June 18th, 2025. Under NJ election law, residency is established on the basis of where an individual maintains the center of his/her domestic life. In Mr. Fisher’s case, that is Florida.
College students, however, who reside out of state during the academic year, may, under NJ election law, claim their parent’s address as their legal address. Until Mr. Fisher’s father moved out of his house in Park Ridge, Mr. Fisher could take advantage of that facet of the law. When Mr. Fisher Sr. planned his move, Mr. Fisher Jr. was faced with the prospect of becoming ineligible to remain in office.
He then signed a lease to rent the basement of a house in Park Ridge for an implausibly low rate of $10/mo., and he used that lease agreement, and other official documents procured on the basis of the lease agreement to represent to the Board of Education that he continues to reside in Park Ridge.
Unfortunately for Mr. Fisher, the Borough of Park Ridge does not zone the allegedly rented property for multi-family use. Mr. Fisher and the property owner then apparently conspired to circumvent the zoning law by claiming that Mr. Fisher was a “roommate” of the property owner. Such arrangements would not normally trigger the creation of a formal lease agreement. Hence, the documents originally furnished to the Board of Education were no longer valid proof of residency.
Moreover, as Mr. Fisher does not actually reside at the property under the requirements established by NJ election law that it be the center of his domestic life, he is ineligible to continue serve on the Board, who may, upon learning of this fact, remove him forthwith. If they fail to act, then the citizens of Park Ridge may remove him through the recall process. Other formal processes may also be undertaken to ensure his removal.
Mr. Fisher is a liability to to the town of Park Ridge, that is why the residents are trying to get rid of him. His residency is not supported by New Jersey law. In New Jersey, you must maintain a primary residence in the district in which you serve. A primary residence is defined as “the center of your domestic life”. Mr. Fisher attends college in Tennessee, and once his father moved out of town, and subsequently sold his property in Park Ridge, Mr. Fisher’s residency in Park Ridge ended. The implausible lease he created, ten dollars a month for an un-permitted basement, is not an actual rental agreement, but a paper-trail created to falsify his residency with the Park Ridge BOE. This agreement was changed to a room mate agreement by the home-owner who is colluding with him in the creation of the paperwork.
Mr. Fisher refuses to work in tandem with the other members of the Park Ridge BOE. He continues to refuse all committee assignments. His main focus has been self-serving efforts to change the rules of the BOE so that he would not have to attend meeting in person. Of course this would make things more convenient for him as a non-resident, but these rules exist because one is supposed to live in the district that they serve.
Mr. Fisher’s statement against special interests is quite puzzling since he took a pledge to the special interest organization Moms for Liberty in order to gain their endorsement. He has since been working toward their goals including targeting transgender students and attempting to remove books from the library that deal with LGBTQ youth and minority students. Indeed he is directly serving the needs of this special interest group to the detriment of all the students in the Park Ridge School system.
Dweeb
Non-woke?
He’s Not Guilty.
Stop the Player Hate, Park Ridge!
The kid’s got talent, and is going places. In the meantime, Park Ridge should be honored by his presence as a BOE trustee.
Seems like this was written with AI, especially the last paragraph which is nonsense. not a great look.
Mr. Fisher did not run unopposed. There was a last-minute write-in candidate who received ca 469 votes and two other candidates on the ballot who received more votes than Fisher. That says quite a bit about Mr. Fisher’s lack of popular support, that he ran against a relatively successful write-in candidate, and that he came in last among those officially on the ballot.
Let’s look at the numbers. The total number of students in the Park Ridge school system is 1,853. Last year’s school budget was $42 million. That works out to a little over $22,000 per pupil. According to the Zillow rankings, the Park Ridge school system gets a 7 out of 10 rating. The Park Ridge tax payer has been over charged given the quality of education students receive. Fisher has been pointing this out to the community and I believe that’s why they want him out. The recall committee has a teacher from the high school on it! It sounds to me that this committee is only trying to protect the sweet deal the administration has. They don’t want anyone disturbing the status quo. The taxpayer is losing and many long term residents can no longer afford to live in Park Ridge. It is board members like Fisher who are trying to protect the constituents.
Zillow is not a reliable rating system for schools.
Park Ridge received a grade of A from Niche.com and is rated #10 in Bergen County, which is pretty good for a small district.
None of the three recall organizers is a teacher in Park Ridge schools. You are lying or misinformed.
Fisher wanted a 0% budget increase, which, with mandatory contracted salary increases amounts to a budget cut, which the Board voted down, and whereby Fisher couldn’t even be bothered to attend to cast a vote. If he got his way, sports, band, choir, and even AP classes would be eliminated.
Make no mistake, Fisher is trying to gut the schools so that he can justify privatizing our education system, a Moms for Liberty top priority.
A recent former Republican council member spoke eloquently at the Budget meeting, when he said that Fisher’s budget would “rip out the heart of the schools.”
This is not whom we want on the Board, a Moms for Liberty-endorsed member, who wants to ban books, who refers to LGBTQ+ students as “mentally ill” and who doesn’t live in town, and is willing to commit fraud to remain in power.