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Light Rain Five candidates face off in North Bellmore
Two seats on the North Bellmore School District’ Board of Education are on the line in the May 21 election. In one race, incumbent JoAnn DeLauter faces challenger Frank LaMagra. North Bellmorites will have three options to chose from for the second seat: incumbent Rosemarie Corless, Peter Mayo or Greg Bashaw. The fate of the five candidates will be at the polls at Newbridge Road Elementary School.
JoAnn DeLauter
JoAnn DeLauter, who has been a member of the board for five years, will face Frank LaMagra on this year’s ballot.
DeLauter joined the board in 2008 when she was appointed to her post after another trustee moved from the neighborhood. She was then re-elected at the mandatory end-of-year election after a resignation, and again the next year when her seat’s term was up. She has also been a member of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Board of Education for two years.
Before she took the board position, DeLauter served on several PTA committees and site-based teams while her four children were enrolled in schools throughout North Bellmore. She was the co-president of the PTA at the Park Avenue School from the 2005-06 to the 2006-07 school year, at Grand Avenue Middle School from 2004 to 2006 and at Wellington C. Mepham High School from 2006-07 to 2007-08.
DeLauter, originally from Ozone Park, has lived with her husband and four children in North Bellmore for 28 years. Her youngest child, JoAnn, is a member of Mepham’s graduating class of 2013. Her other children – Edward, Margaret and Kathryn – are graduates of Park Avenue, Grand Avenue and Mepham.
DeLauter said she had more time to serve the community once her children began heading off to college. She added that her experiences as a local parent and on the board have helped inform her decisions as a trustee.
DeLauter explained that she has faced challenges as a board member, particularly when the district closed Gunther School, as well as managing the district budget within the confines of state tax-cap legislation. She said the tax cap and new testing requirements will each be significant challenges.
