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Mostly Cloudy Board of Education candidates named in Bellmores
Bellmore and North Bellmore residents will not only vote on their school district budgets on May 19, but also they will decide who will sit on their boards of education.
Trustees are elected in at-large races in both districts, meaning that all candidates run against one another and the top vote-getters win available seats on the board. Bellmore and North Bellmore candidates are running unopposed this year, as there are two candidates for two open seats in each district.
In the Bellmore School District, two incumbents –– Marion Blane and Brian Desmond ––are seeking re-election. Nina Lanci, a longtime North Bellmore trustee, is also running in her district. The North Bellmore ballot will feature a newcomer: Melissa Cmar-Grote, a local parent and active PTA member.
North Bellmore Board of Education President Grace Cramsie will not seek re-election. The North Bellmore School District takes in students from North Bellmore and part of North Merrick.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 19 at the Newbridge Road School in North Bellmore. Bellmore voters will head to the Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
IN NORTH BELLMORE
Melissa Cmar-Grote
Cmar-Grote has lived in North Bellmore for 14 years. She and her husband, Chris, said they wanted to raise their two daughters in a community with an outstanding school district. She said she ran for the North Bellmore board to help maintain the district’s excellent programs.
When her oldest daughter, now 11, entered kindergarten in 2008, Cmar-Grote said she became involved in the community, serving two terms as the Saw Mill Road Elementary School PTA president and one term as an adviser to the executive board.
During Cmar-Grote’s tenure as president, the Saw Mill PTA raised $90,000 to construct a new playground, purchase new sound equipment and risers for the music department, and provide cultural arts programs for a student body of about 700 children. She noted that working with parents, teachers, staff members and administrators at Saw Mill Road has been a privilege.
