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.

• Stephen DeMarco - Retired teacher, "the manchurian candidate".
• Dawn Fucheck - A current board member.
• Robert McLymore Sr. - Could that be this person?
• Edward Poppiti - A current board member.
• David Rein - Board member 2004-2007. Here is Another letter he wrote.
• Nathan Vesely - Appointed School Pesticide Representative at July 2006 Newburgh School District organization meeting.

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.

• There are on the order of 18,000 taxed residential property parcels in the district.
• There are on the order of 12,000 students in the Newburgh School District.
• There were 2,453 voters in the May 2007 budget vote and school board election.
• Somewhere between 559 and 1,677 voters did not make the full selection of three Board of Education candidates that they were allowed.
• The number of votes required to win a BOE seat was 1,172.
• Less than one half of all voters followed the union recommended BOE slate fully.

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.