FIVE CANDIDATES VIE FOR THREE SPOTS ON NORTH SHORE SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION
On Tuesday May 21, residents in the North Shore School District will have the opportunity to go to the polls and choose among five candidates running for three spots on the seven member Board of Education. The candidates include incumbents Sara Jones and Marianne Russo, both seeking a third three-year term, and David Ludmar who was first elected in 2016, as well as Jerry Romano and Anthony Stanco, both running for a first term. Below are the candidates' biographies and statements as provided by the candidates themselves to the North Shore School District. The order of the candidates below is the same as they will appear on the ballot.
ANTHONY STANCO
OCCUPATION: Semi-retired real estate investment, management, and attorney. I have been a teacher, a counselor/outreach worker, a carpenter/contractor, a real estate agent, and a journalist. QUALIFICATIONS: Graduating from the State University College at Geneseo, NY in 1976 with teacher certification I entered the field at a time when there were 20,000 unemployed teachers in Nassau County due to declining enrollment. At Geneseo, formerly a NORML school, the respect I had for the dedication of my classmates gave me inspiration to hold close to teaching; first as a substitute, then full-time private, then public. My experiences were unique and informative. My experience as a trial attorney often directly concerned children's needs, in all settings. PERSONAL: My father was born at home on Franklin Ave in Sea Cliff. I attended St. Boniface and taught CCD. Also the Sea Cliff Gospel Chapel. I am a Christian Quaker, and was the clerk of the Martha's Vineyard Meeting of the Society of Friends. As a Friend I live by five values: nonviolence, honesty, simplicity, tolerance, and equality. My simple Stoic beliefs are shared by my Roman Catholic wife and impressed upon our three, soon to be four, sons. I love sailing. STATEMENT: To my mind, life has strong metaphorical aspects that unite all people, regardless of their origins, attitudes, or actions. When I approach another person, I am essentially approaching myself in another form. It is impossible for me to distinguish myself from the rest of humanity. Still, I am capable of observations. When it comes to this school district, I feel something like I am Walter Huston dancing in the dirt. Or I am Fran shouting at Scott in Strictly Ballroom telling him he is a gutless wonder, because, in essence, he is selling himself out. I know school districts where the revenue per student is a fraction of what we raise, yet the students are educated no less. What's the great difference we offer? We have more choices, I can say, but after that, it does not add up. Our schools could be the finest in the nation, or even the world, given the resources available. What holds us back? We are followers. We are great consumers. We are shoppers of the ready-made, the processed, the so called proven programs developed by someone somewhere for some children possibly in some laboratory, and we say, “Oh, let us buy that, and that, and look at that!” And by this we are failures. Our district is consumption oriented and not production oriented. Recently we hired a new superintendent. Our Board hired an agency to help with the selection. We know so little ourselves we can't know what we need? Well, we can pay someone who knows better, eh? The fact is that you can't buy real knowledge. Attaining knowledge is a commitment and a process. And it is teachers that understand the students that are placed in their care that should be knowledgeable about how to reach those very students. Those individuals I will call your children, or, the community calls our children. When I taught I never taught the same lesson the same way, because, it wasn't the same children. A teacher teaches two things: first knowledge, second, individual students. The work of teaching is matching those two. I remember being asked by an interviewing principal who it was I admired as a teaching role model, and I said, “Marva Collins.” That clown answered me, “Never heard of her.” I just thought to myself, what a hole this place must be, let's get this over quick. There are people we can call sophists masquerading as teachers almost everywhere. They constantly try to convince you that they know some special knowledge you don't have, and they wish to trade that knowledge for your cash. In the end, you always get a bad bargain from them. Suppose we were not a pack of gutless, clueless wonders. Suppose we expected the teachers to be teachers and approach their students with professional care using their own judgment and their own methods and just held them accountable as if they were professional? Professionals, separate from professionalism, are those people that have no other recourse than to perform or be replaced. They stand by their own judgment, and are judged by their own works. There is no buck to pass. Traditionally that meant you were either in the military, the clergy, medicine, or law. Now we seem to have professional tradesman, which is absurd. I have been a tradesman myself, but hardly could I think the word professional correctly applied. Competent was certainly sufficient. Master was better. Teachers claim to be professional yet many are just union employees. Some get their tenure and then wait for their pensions. Teachers like those need something to invigorate them. Teachers that are comfortable doing less than a real commitment to the children in their classrooms need to be eliminated, actually. There should be no tolerance for halfway teaching. We will not be able to keep our students away from drugs, or casual sex, or worse, unless we are able to, with consistency, convey the actual harm they do themselves when they engage in behaviors beyond their emotional growth. It has long been documented how adolescence brings on emotional stress and negative behavior. What I see for girls in particular is heartbreaking. While at this time in primitive cultures girls have opportunities to receive mentoring it seems that all our children get their awareness from popular culture. In schools for decades the “new and exciting” programs have been rolled out again and again, yet with no measurable results. Yet here, in our new age of communication, with so much available, we seem to miss putting together our own program, for our own children, and ignore all those powerful observations historically put together by people trying to find their place in the universe. Everything a human being struggles against to find self-awareness has been well documented in myths, philosophical debates, societal struggles, even wars. The simple truth of living remains elusive for many, though the truly educated have all found their peace. The obvious fact that none of us is much more than a speck of dust in the universe begs all the questions that need to be addressed regarding our social contract, the laws, the morals, the values that we, by our own law's mandates, are to present to our children in our schools. However, in avoiding this vital responsibility all school will become now is a stepping stone on a path to earning higher wages, what happiness do we give our children and our community? Shall it be successful sociopaths? Or, as Elie Wiesel said, “educated Eichmanns? It seems to me our shared values need to include a curriculum that expressly lays out all the rational choices an emotionally grounded person must make, and what ages are considered most appropriate to make those choices and why. Choices all people must make, or, if avoided lead them into addiction, depression, and hopelessness. When we see our children out in the world learning for themselves lessons we would rather they learned under our care, we know our schools have failed. Under no circumstance do I want any casualties. Tragedy is a real part of living. More tragic is to be privileged and ignorant, and find that tragedy is all too real far too late. There is content upon content available for our children to bring them into greater consciousness yet they need real guidance and not platitudes, and certainly not the vulgar display of awards on the front lawn of the schools. I remember another principal, years ago, telling me that the school was a business. I stopped him right there. I said it is a public service. Now I remember full well days wherein students in our schools suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of both teachers and administrators, and the worst of it was in the Junior High School. On the other hand, there were brilliant educators mixed into the faculty, and whatever there was then is all gone forty years later. Making sure those conditions never exist is also a part of raising emotionally healthy children. As I promised last year, again, I will put up no signs. Once elected, I will take no phone calls. I will pander to no one. What I will do is be available for parents each month for open discussion separate from school board meetings. As I was collecting signatures this year a man came up to me saying he had served on the board, questioning my credentials. He seemed very bitter. Others also, some expressing disgust towards the schools we are running now. I am going to promise you all this if elected, that I will, in the open, conduct myself honestly and directly in all matters. I will never be bitter or frustrated because the schools do not become the exact model I believe is needed for real success. What I will be is a part of the process, and I will bring to the table an experience which in my soul I know is undeniable and persistent, which is the truth. I will deal with the truth as it reveals itself, and in the open, and for everyone's benefit. If this is a model for a Trustee you want to see, then please give me your support. |
DAVE LUDMAR
Occupation: I am the owner and CEO of an industry-leading textile and uniform accessories manufacturer with plants in New York and South Carolina, employing over 40 people and selling to a global customer-base. In my 23 years there, I have overseen a 6x growth, acquired and built our second location, set – and met – corporate goals, and helped develop numerous high-profile uniform programs. We’ve navigated various economic environments and technology revolutions while maintaining a very low employee-turnover rate and building our brands. I am actively involved our industry trade association, serving as the Chairperson of its Military Relations Committee. Qualifications: I am completing the third year of my first term as a North Shore School Board Trustee – and my first year as its Vice President. Other leadership positons include President of the Glenwood Landing-Glen Head Civic Association and serving on the boards of both the North Shore Softball and Gold Coast Little League Boards. I began my career as Assistant Director of Admissions for a small VA liberal arts college, and I graduated from Syosset HS, Vassar College (BA) and NYU (MBA). Personal: My wife, Molly, and I have lived in Glenwood Landing since 2005. Our daughter is a 6thgrader at NS Middle School and our son is a 5thgrader at Glenwood Landing Elementary. I have coached softball for several years, love the Yankees and enjoy travel and the arts. Statement: I am excited to announce my candidacy for re-election to the North Shore School Board, a complex and challenging role which I take seriously. I believe strongly in giving back to the community in which I live, and my experiences as a trustee, business owner, community leader, coach and parent have prepared me well to guide our district forward. Our community rightly demands excellent schools with a rigorous academic program, a focus on authentic learning for all students, and a broad offering of extra-curricular activities to help them prepare for successful lives beyond North Shore. We must provide this in a fiscally responsible manner to preserve our home values and manage our tax burden. Achieving this requires thoughtful, open, respectful, transparent and measured leadership. I have a proven ability to build consensus and compromise while maintaining focused vision on that distant point on the horizon to which we must always be headed, as stewards of this school system. Thank you. |
MARIANNE MANNING RUSSO
Occupation: Practicing attorney specializing in labor law, ERISA, commercial and residential real estate and trust and estates. Qualifications: I am a graduate of Georgetown University and Fordham University School of Law. I have been a practicing attorney for over thirty years beginning my career at Skadden, Arps. I am now a partner in a small law firm in Westchester County. I have served as a volunteer in the school district in many different capacities for approximately fifteen years. I was named a “Woman of Distinction” by Assemblyman Ed Ra in 2018 for my volunteer service to the community. I am currently a Trustee on the North Shore Board of Education where I serve on the Construction Steering Committee, the Bond Steering Committee, the Legal Review Committee and as Board liaison to the Legislative Action Committee. I led the most recent request for proposals for legal services for the District on behalf of the Board and served on the search committee for architectural and engineering services. I initiated and served on the Guidance Review Committee and participated in the Athletic Review, the Tri-States Review and the bond referendum in 2013-14. I formerly served on the Policy Review Committee and on the Mission and Vision Statement Committee. As a member of the Board of Education, I advocated for the institution of the writing center at North Shore High School to assist students with the increasing rigor of the high school curriculum. In addition, I initiated a bus ridership study which resulted in a reduction in the mileage for eligibility and increased ridership on the busses at no cost to the community. There is currently another proposed reduction in the mileage on this year’s budget vote in effort to further increase bus ridership at no cost to the community. I also insisted on reviewing the legal invoices which changed the way the District was billed for legal services at a substantial savings to the District. My experience as an attorney has proven invaluable in reviewing contracts and in understanding complex legal issues that face the District, including the decommissioning of the Glenwood Landing Power Plant and the push by National Grid and LIPA to reduce their tax obligations to the District. The closure of this plant and the attempts by American Water to pass its tax obligations on to our residents continue to be the two largest fiscal challenges to our community and I am the only member of the Board of Education who has a legal background as the District continues its fight for an equitable solution. Prior to becoming a Trustee, I served on the executive boards of the Glen Head PTO, North Shore High School PTSA, the Middle School PTA and the Coordinating Council. I was also a member of the Site Based Committee and the review committee for the district’s policies and procedures. Personal: My husband and I have been residents of the district since 1994. Both my daughter, Katie (2014), and my son, Michael (2017), are graduates of North Shore High School where they were actively engaged in the fine and performing arts program as well as many other extracurricular activities. Michael is a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh where he is double majoring in theater arts and ancient civilizations. Katie graduated Fordham University last year and is currently a volunteer at a Jesuit college preparatory high school in Houston that serves economically disadvantaged students. Statement: I believe that the combination of my professional background and my experience as a member of the Board of Education makes me uniquely qualified to lead the District as it faces increasing fiscal and economic challenges while striving to maintain academic excellence. The combination of the reassessment by Nassau County and the decreased deductibility of the real estate taxes due to SALT coupled with the decommissioning of the Glenwood Landing power plant and the subsequent unscrupulous billing practices by American Water have created the perfect storm for taxpayer unrest. This community needs to have confidence that the members of the Board of Education not only understand these outside factors, but that they are also capable of making the difficult decisions that may confront the District in the future. I will continue to pursue all available avenues to obtain relief from these economic burdens and to pressure the administration to carefully review its programs and expenditures to ascertain where savings can be achieved. Furthermore, I will be a tireless advocate for academic excellence. I believe that there is always room for improvement and the District should be continually evaluating its academic programs to see where we can achieve even greater success and equity for all students. Our District is an amazing and unique place which offers a plethora of academic and extracurricular opportunities for our students. The challenge that confronts us is how to maintain and improve those opportunities while being simultaneously sensitive to the growing fiscal pressure being experienced by our residents. It will take strong leadership, a critical eye and innovative approaches to achieve this delicate balance. I have a proven track record of challenging the status quo, questioning our programs and expenditures and continually striving for improved academic outcomes and opportunities. I look forward to meeting the challenges that face the District over the next thee years. |
SARA JONES
Occupation: For 19 years, I have been the owner and CEO of a successful, national catalog-based company now serving 100,000 customers. I have consistently increased sales and market-share through strong financial and strategic planning, pro-active budgeting, sophisticated data-analysis, complex supply chain management, and creative problem-solving. Previously, I worked as a director of fundraising for the public-private partnership Citymeals-on-Wheels raising several million dollars in donations annually and gaining an understanding of the role of private fundraising for public institutions. Qualifications: I am the current President of North Shore’s Board of Education; I previously served two years as Vice-President and have greatly enjoyed serving our community as a trustee for the past six years. I’ve worked hard during my tenure to preserve the long-term financial well-being of our schools. I’ve supported a rich, well-rounded curriculum for all our students where meaningful learning is not crowded out by outside pressures. I’ve focused on the well-being of our students through the wellness and safety committees and the health of our infrastructure on the construction steering committee. During this time, I’ve also been able to extend my involvement in the community by co-founding the volunteer-run, nonprofit Sea Cliff MAKEshop which provides coding, science and engineering and other hands-on science opportunities for district students. We also created and run the annual Beach Science program and the Spooky Pumpkin Walk for the community. I worked to organize the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor’s annual Scudder’s Pond cleanup. Previously, I served as Treasurer for the Friends of the Sea Cliff Library for which I still raise funds annually; I have also been deeply involved in our schools through the Sea Cliff PCA where I was former webmaster, created the book swap and chaired the nutrition committee; I also served on North Shore’s district-wide nutrition committee. I graduated in 1989 from Princeton University, A.B. cum laude. Personal: I am a 19 year resident of Sea Cliff. I have a son at North Shore Middle School and a daughter at North Shore High and am a former Sea Cliff School and Roslyn Trinity Co-op parent. Both kids have taken advantage of the terrific opportunities our district has in the arts and athletics, and it has been a great opportunity to meet so many of our neighbors in our auditoriums and on our playing fields. We are the proud companions of our rescue dog, two cats, and a frog raised from tadpole-hood in our daughter’s kindergarten class. Statement: As your neighbor, a parent, and a tax payer, I see our schools as being at a critical juncture. Our district provides a strong, well-rounded education for all of our students, but we also face significant financial challenges while we work to ready our schools and students for the future. The 19 years I have spent running and building a successful business as well as my experience on our Board are critical assets today. I want to be able to use my demonstrated abilities in long-term planning, data analysis, budgeting and creative problem solving, as well as my commitment to all our students and our community, to continue to move our educational program forward during these challenging times. We are all the beneficiaries of our excellent school system, a tremendous gift that enriches our entire community. For the last six years, it has been my privilege to serve on the Board of Education, and I hope to continue my efforts to provide the current and future students of the North Shore community with rich and meaningful educational experiences. |
JERRY ROMANO
Occupation: Television industry executive who worked on the historic launch of MTV has created/produced live events and produced many awards shows. Qualifications: Lead process improvement teams at CBS Broadcasting that evaluated utilization and made recommendations that cut significant cost without diminishing quality. Member of the CBS Senior Management Operations Team that in1996 had a $250 million budget and 1200 employees. Created and successfully managed budgets and accustomed to taking a leadership role where a lack of leadership exists. Served on non-profit boards (Emmy Awards) in the entertainment industry for over 30 years with success earned as a result of the ability to ask good questions that keep the organization on track, monitor expenses and take my fiduciary responsibility very seriously (as though I am spending my own money and just as I do in business). Key to this includes asking if issue/ process/expenditure is “necessary and effective” and “what would happen if we didn’t do this?” Personal: Raised in Roslyn and started sailing out of Sea Cliff 35 years ago, Jumped at the opportunity to move here my family 15 years ago and have been active in the North Shore community with charitable endeavors. Statement: North Shores effectiveness as an educational institution must focus on achieving the best possible academic outcomes for our children and our community, while being fiscally responsible. Metrics must be developed for evaluating effectiveness of staff who have intentionally systematically obfuscated national and state tests to measure their ability. With North Shore spending 34% more per student than the county average this community will benefit from benchmarking school districts with excellent academic results and superior financials to reverse unnecessary spending as enrollment declines and return that $27 million to the community. We need to engage the New York State Comptroller to perform a forensic audit of the $29 million of cash reserves that is 300-400% more than neighboring school districts. Our tax dollars must be used for education and all of the information about cost and performance must be transparent and on-line so that the people who fund North Shore can see how their hard-earned money is being spent. |
