5.8.10 Grace Bowles, Mark Levinstein, and Runston Lewis introduce themselves
5.8.10 Judith McAfee, Eric Motley, Sue Prokosch, and Tom Woodhull introduce themselves
For additional videos from the Meet the Candidates event, visit the Newburgh Lyceum YouTube Channel or start at the Newburgh Lyceum Blog.(The other videos are full-motion, not just stills.)
The May 12-18, 2010 edition of the Mid Hudson Times has several items of interest to Newburgh School District election watchers.
Page 3: Jessica McAleese, "Three vacancies, eight candidates for Newburgh school board", pictures and paragraphs on all eight candidates. [UPDATE] You can read the article here.
Page 9: Tom Fitzgerald, "Chances Are, You Won't Vote on Tuesday".
Page 9: Letters in support of candidates as well as letters by candidates Judith McAfee and Sue Prokosch.
On Saturday, May 8, 2010, the Newburgh Lyceum group and Mothers and Others for a Better Newburgh co-sponsored a "Meet the Board of Education Candidates" event.
Seven of the eight Newburgh School District Board of Education candidates were able to attend. The many excellent questions submitted here at newburghedinfo were among those forwarded as input.
Video coverage of the event is posted at the Newburgh Lyceum blog. The video quality at the beginning of the event is not so good. However, the audio is fine throughout.
All of the candidates are to be commended for taking the time and initiative to answer questions publicly. And thank you to Newburgh Lyceum and Mother and Others for sponsoring this event.
Each of the candidates expressed a sincere desire to work for improvements in the district. On May 18 you will get to decide who gets the chance.
There is going to be a "Meet the Candidates" event next Saturday. Please suggest questions to the sponsors via email to newburghlyceum@gmail.com, or suggest a question in a comment here, and I will see that they are forwarded.
From: Newburgh Lyceum
Subject: Meet the Newburgh Board of Education Candidates - Saturday May 8*Meet the Newburgh Board of Education Candidates - Saturday May 8*
The Newburgh Lyceum and Mothers and Others for a Better Newburgh invite you to "Meet the Candidates" on May 8, 2010. The school board election and budget vote will be May 18.
When: 10 a.m. - 12 noon, Saturday May 8
Where: Board of Education Auditorium (on the top floor of the Newburgh Free Library.)
This is your chance to learn about the candidates. The event will begin with a few formal questions to the candidates, with additional time afterward for the public and the candidates to meet informally.
If you have a question you would like the candidates to answer, please email it to the Newburgh Lyceum at newburghlyceum@gmail.com by May 3. If you are a candidate and would like to participate, please email or call (845) 391-0125.
*****
The Newburgh Lyceum is a forum for citizens concerned about the quality of life in Newburgh to share ideas and work work together to create positive change. Membership is open to all.
Mothers & Others for a Better Newburgh, Mo'Betta, seeks to improve the quality of life for residents of the city of Newburgh by 1) providing greater oversight of its government officials and municipal processes and 2) generating workable plans of action designed to resolve the city's impediments to progress and strengthen the city's sense of community and family friendliness.
Giving credit where it's due. There is actually some good information over on the Newburgh School District site.
The full "line item" budget proposal for 2009-2010 (23 page pdf). If you actually go to the trouble of reading this, please do post a comment if you have any interesting observations!
Sample of the ballot you will be voting on tomorrow. You can find the correct spelling of the candidate's names here.
Over on the official Newburgh School District Web Site there is a post which claims to "present information on the 4 candidates".
You might imagine that some Newburgh School District official would take such basic steps to insure fairness as to write nearly the same number of words for each candidate and present the candidates in alphabetical order. You might also imagine that some basic fact checking would be done--things like verifying educational claims, or spelling the names of the candidates correctly. But that would just be your imagination, just your imagination...
| Candidate Name | Number of words in bio presented at NECSD Web Site |
| John N. Giudice | 44 |
| Runston T. Lewis | 242 |
| Pamela R. Resch | 145 |
| Nathan E. Vesely | 115 |
Thanks to the Mid Hudson Times, there is at least a little information about the Newburgh School District's Board of Education candidates available. There was also a "Meet the candidates" event sponsored by the Parents of Color Advisory Committee last week. Unfortunately I did not learn of it until after the event.
Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, May 13, 2009, page 5
Four seek three school seats
By Jessica McAleeseThis year, there are four candidates running in an election to fill three vacant seats on the Newburgh Enlarged City School District Board of Education. Newcomers Nathan Vesely and John Giudice will appear on the ballot along with incumbents Pamela Resch and Runston T. Lewis.
The annual school budget vote and school board election will take place on Tuesday, May 19.
Runston T. Lewis
Lifelong Newburgh resident and veteran school board member Runston T. Lewis had several reasons for running in his first election 19 years ago.
"At the time there were no minorities on the board and I felt that we needed more representation," he said.
Lewis, who currently serves as the school board president, also felt he had a lot to offer the children of the district.
"I'm proud of the progress that has been made but we still have a ways to go," he said.
Now seeking his eighth term, Lewis said that his primary goals are to repair the board's damaged relationships with labor unions and address the high dropout rates among Newburgh students.
If re-elected, Lewis said he is also looking forward to continuing to implement the district's reconfiguration plan to create a grade 9-12 high school and expanding ideas when it comes to alernative education.
"If we don't figure out how to teach these so called 'at risk' kids, they will wind up on the street or in prison," he said. "We have an obligation to provide them with a quality education and give them every opportunity to succeed."
Pamela Resch
Although Pamela Resch says she has seen some significant progress during her six years on the school board, she says there is always room for improvement.
"We've made some tremendous strides in the past few years," said Resch, a New Windsor resident. "There have been a lot of changes that I'm proud to say I've been a part of and I'd like the opportunity to continue to see it all through."
Resch, a mother of four, is seeking re-election to what would be her third term on the school board. She said she became involved in education when her first child began kindergarten and it didn't take long for her to decide to run for a spot on the Board of Education.
"I've always been a real grassroots parent," she said. "I had a passion for education and at the time there was quite a bit of turmoil on the board and a lot of people were encouraging me to run."
The most challenging part of her involvement so far, Resch said, is balancing the needs of the students with a responsibility to the taxpayers.
"It's our job to look out for everyone's interests but for me, the kids always come first. They always have and they always will."
John Giudice
If elected to the Newburgh Enlarged Cit School District Board of Education, John Giudice says he has one major goal he would like to see accomplished: to change the way school districts are funded.
"I want to try to stabilize school taxes and take the burden off of homeowners," he said. "It's just not fair the way things are done."
While he admits it may not happen overnight, Giudice vows that if elected, he would be sure to put pressure on the state to seriously consider the matter.
"I strongly believe in enforcing a dress code and that is something I will bring up to the board," said Giudice, whose two daughters graduated from Newburgh Free Academy. "I would also like to see more security in the schools to address the gang problems."
A former Newburgh city council member and a mayoral candidate and currently a city water department employee, Giudice feels he has a lot to contribute to the district's school board.
"I am a good listener and I can be vocal when I need to be," he said. "I think that's very important."
Nathan Vesely
Nathan Vesely, a lifelong resident of the City of Newburgh, has been attending the district's Board of Education meetings regulary and he says he doesn't like what he sees.
"I think we need a little bit of a change," said vesely, citing staff cuts as a major area of concern. "Something has to be done about all these layoffs."
A retired maintenance employee, Vesely first ran for a seat on the school boad last year. He lost the election but that didn't stop him from throwing his hat in the ring once more.
Vesely, who has served on the district's health and safety committee and facilities planning committee, said his primary goals are to maintain the conditions of the school buildings and ensure financial responsibility. As a former district employee, he says he is very familiar with the school's buildings and staff and he feels that is something that would help make him a valuable contribution to the board.
"I got along with everybody," he said.
On Page 29 of the print edition of the Mid Hudson Times on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 there appeared this short article:
Newburgh BOE candidates
It was announced last week that newcomers John Giudice, Pamela Resch, and Nathan Vesely will run against incumbent (and school board prsident) Runston Lewis to fill three vacancies on the Newburgh Enlarged city School District Board of Education.
The annual school board election and school budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 19.
Pamela Resch is a current member of the Newburgh Schools BOE, so it's unclear in what sense the three are newcomers. If the three are running together it would be interesting to know what issue unites them. Also, where was this announced?
The Mid Hudson Times provides something in the way of coverage of the Newburgh School District Board of Education Election. Please see the article Six candidates seek three Newburgh school board seats by Jessica McAleese. Photographs and very brief comments by the candidates are included.
An article in the TH Record and a "sample ballot" available from the Newburgh School District site, agree that the following six people are the candidates for the three open seats on the Newburgh School District Board of Education. The election is this Tuesday, May 20.
It's always nice when a Board of Education candidate finds the time to address a few sentences to The Public. Anyone familiar with the Newburgh Board of Education will appreciate what a rare event this is. This is from the Friday, May 16, 2008 issue of The Sentinel, a small but worthy paper.
Vote For David Rein
To the Editor and Readers,
My name is David J. Rein. I have been a resident of Newburgh for over 35 years. I am a graduate of the best school system with the best Teachers and Staff in New York State, the Newburgh Enlarged City School District. I am proud to have served on the Newburgh School Board from 2004-2007. I am a homeowner and taxpayer in the Town of Newburgh. Most importantly, I am the father of two Newburgh students and the husband to a fantastic wife and teacher who works here in Newburgh.
Next Tuesday, May 20, 2008, you have the responsibility and opportunity to vote for School Board Members as well as next year's budgets. There are several good candidates seeking a seat on the board this time around; I would like to take a moment to inform you why you should vote for David J. Rein.
During my tenure as a board member, I worked very hard for the safety and welfare of our students and staff. I successfully lobbied Senator William Larkin personally for funding for cameras on our school buses. Any parent of a child who rides a school bus knows the difference these cameras have made. I routinely advocated for the maintenance and clean up of our athletic fields, South Junior High in particular, where broken glass and drug paraphernalia is often found after fair weather weekends. Furthermore, I was and still am a strong advocate for our security team because I truly believe our teachers and students deserve to work and learn in a safe environment.
In addition to Health & Safety issues, I also took an active role along with other board members in conceptualizing and planning for the implementation of the district reconfiguration currently taking place. I remember growing up here in the 1970's when our current Deputy Superintendent Ralph Pizzo taught at Temple Hill when the Temple and Meadow Hill Schools were K-8. Well two great things have returned, Mr. Pizzo is working for the district again and the K-8 programs have returned to the Hill Schools.
Finally, I am an independent voice, someone not intimidated to ask hard questions -- someone who will advocate for the taxpayers at large; this is something our school board sorely needs. I believe the most important special interest a school board member should serve is the students and their parents. The district's employee unions have endorsed all of the current board members, including the two incumbents seeking re-election. Who is looking out for the other 28,000 taxpayers? I will! I encourage you to elect at least one board member who will collaborate fairly and openly with the NTA, CSEA, NSAA unions but whose decisions will not be influenced by their endorsement.
If you read this letter then you are likely to participate in the Newburgh School Board and Budget vote next Tuesday. I would kindly ask that you consider carefully all that I have shared and vote for me, David J. Rein. It’s truly in your best interest.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
David Rein
Rumor has it that there may be as many as four candidates for the three Newburgh Board of Education positions which will be filled based on the results of the election to be held on May 20, 2008. It is likely that two of the candidates are the incumbants, Dawn Fuchek and Edward Poppiti who were elected to three years terms in May of 2005. The third candidate elected at that time was Ralph A. Pizzo, who has of course stepped up from volunteer work to lead the Newburgh School District as its Deputy Interim Superintendent.
Since there are only two incumbents this is a good opportunity for fresh new faces on the Board. There's plenty of time to throw your hat in the race. It looks like the petition forms are due to the Clerk on April 30. If you would like to learn about what the position involves, the Orange County School Boards Association is sponsoring a "Workshop for Prospective Board Members" on April 5, 2008 in Goshen. You can find out about this event via a neighboring school district's web site but not at the Newburgh School District's web site.
At the Tuesday December 18 meeting of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District Board of Education, the resignation of board member Ralph A. Pizzo was accepted.
Later at the same meeting, Ralph A. Pizzo was appointed Interim Deputy Superintendent of Schools.
Mr. Pizzo had been given the oath of office on July 5, 2005 to serve a three year term. His position on the board probably will remain vacant until it would normally have been up for re-election in May of 2008.
Occasionally, the claim is bandied about that the Newburgh Teachers' Association has a lock on Newburgh School District Board of Education elections, because the NTA selects candidates to recommend, actively informs union members of the recommendations, and the union members vote.
Interesting theory, but please consider a few facts from the last election on May 15, 2007 at which board members Bowles, McAfee, and Woodhull were elected from a field of six candidates.
These margins seem very slim. Results could change with only a small increase in voter participation. Results might even be different with no increase in participation but simply greater motivation to vote for a particular candidate.
