Brohm defending BOE seat; two vie for Hoffman’s seat

Four candidates are running for three seats on the West Hempstead school board, but only one seat is contested.

Burt Blass is opposing Jennifer Johnson for the seat held by Gavi Hoffman, who is not seeking reelection.

Incumbent Karen Brohm is running unopposed for another four-year term.

Byars Cole is running unopposed for the seat held by Patricia Greaves, who also is not seeking reelection.

Burt Blass

Blass is an accountant and financial manager. He began his career in public accounting before moving into financial analysis for major oil companies, and most recently working as a financial manager for Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

He is a relatively new resident of West Hempstead, having moved there about a year and a half ago from Hillcrest, Queens. Blass comes from a family of educators: His wife is a now-retired 30-year special education teacher, and his daughters are a first-grade teacher and a school psychologist. He is also an active volunteer, previously serving on the boards of many organizations in his former home of Hillcrest and his winter home, Deerfield Beach, Fla.

He said that he is running for a school board seat because his financial background will help him efficiently manage the district’s finances.

“I want West Hempstead to be a model of success for all of Long Island’s schools,” Blass said. “These politicians often speak in slogans, and figure if they throw money at a problem, the problem just goes away, but it doesn’t really work that way. Because of my background, I’ll be able to really look at how the money is being spent and make sure it’s spent in the right way.”

One of his major goals is to help parents of special-needs children.

“As someone whose son has special needs, albeit in a private school, it was a major battle to get the resources that he was legally entitled to,” Blass said. “We did it, but it wasn’t easy, and now it has become my passion. It’s tough enough that parents have these issues, but I want to help them navigate the system and get the resources they need.”

Jennifer Johnson

Johnson has been in education for over two decades, and now works as a speech language pathologist for Nassau BOCES. She grew up in the district and is a graduate of West Hempstead High School. She now has two children in the high school, a freshman and a senior. Throughout her children’s enrollment in the district, she said she has always been a very involved parent, having served as a class parent and heads of committees for the PTA and PTSA and currently as the vice president of the PTSA.

She said that she is running to be a “voice” for the district’s children, including her own.

“I’ve always been very involved in my kids’ education,” Johnson said. “My younger one has severe dyslexia, so I’m always right there advocating for him and I would just like to have a say on the board to help things in the district.”

One thing she would like to do if elected is to continue to enhance the district’s technology infrastructure.

“I want to continue to improve our district’s education in regards to if we ever have to go remote again,” Johnson said. “I’d like to do some more research on how to improve that.”

Karen Brohm

Brohm is the deputy director of the communications bureau of the Nassau County Police Department and is a lifelong West Hempstead resident.

Volunteerism runs in her family, she said, as her son and husband are the chief and commissioner, respectively, of the West Hempstead Fire Department.

She has served in many different positions on the PTA and PTSA, including as its president for two years.

She also was a Nassau County Girl Scout leader for eight years and is a current member of the executive committee of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.

Brohm is running for a fifth term on the board and while she touts many accomplishments during her tenure, the one she is most proud of is the implementation of a Pre-K program she fought hard to bring to the district.

“My one major goal over the last 15 years before I was even on the board was to get a Pre-K program in West Hempstead, and now we have a fully funded Pre-K,” Brohm said.

But she said her work is far from finished, which is why she is running again.

“I feel like we’re still doing good things and I feel I still have more to offer,” Brohm said. “The current board has been functioning well to provide for the community, so I have no reason not to run again.”

Of her specific goals for her next term, she said, “I want to see the completion of the bond, maintain the fiscal responsibility of the district, maintain programs, give the children the best education possible and increase community involvement.”

Byars Cole

Cole currently works in business development for a software company and previously worked in film production and media.

He is a 15-year resident, having put three children through the West Hempstead schools, one of whom is a senior in high school and the other a sophomore.

In the community, he has coached various athletic teams and helped out on other candidates’ campaigns for school board.

Additionally, he has previously served on the board and is eager to serve again.

“I served on the board a few years ago,” Cole said. “When I found out there was an open seat, that gave me the opportunity to run another time and continue to serve.”

One of his biggest priorities on the board would be to continue the district’s work to prepare students for life after high school.

“We’ve made tremendous strides in those STEM programs so I want to continue those and especially try to get girls into technology, as well as other careers,” Cole said. “Not everybody is going to be going to college.

Before COVID, we had some really interesting career days. The district brought in people from all different lines of work, from doctors and lawyers but also union folks to expose kids to those careers and I did a presentation on film production.”

Voting is slated for May 17, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and voters should report to the middle school gym.