By Richard Tedesco
A trio of school board candidates who are widely perceived to be private-school advocates swept to victory in a frenzied finish to the contentious campaign in Lawrence School District 15 last night. And for the first time in five years, the school budget was approved by the voters in the district.
Fueled by intense emotional reactions to attack ads -- particularly one that used the phrase "Orthodox majority" -- a robust voter turnout propelled pro-budget candidates Dr. David Sussman, Nahum Marcus and Dr. Sol Blisko to a win over their public-school-advocate opponents, Pam Greenbaum, Andrew Levey and Maribel Cancelliere, who opposed the budget.
The $92.7 million budget, an increase of a modest 0.9 percent increase, passed with 5,527 votes in favor, and 3,191 opposed.
In the battle between school board incumbents, Sussman drew 5,309 votes to Greenbaum's 4,566. Marcus garnered 5,057 votes to defeat Cancelliere, who had 4,715. Blisko won over Levey with a virtually identical vote tally, 5,046 to 4,725.
The controversial universal pre-K busing proposition passed, with 4,593 votes in favor and 3,967 opposed.
The library budget passed easily, 6,301 to 2,435.
In the wake of one of the district's nastiest school board elections in recent memory, Sussman tried to sound a note of conciliation. "We've all got to work together," he said. "We have to approach everybody as though they were us."
Sussman said it was necessary to rebuild the public schools and the confidence of the community, but offered no immediate blueprint for how the board might heal the wounds of a bitterly divided community.
Marcus, who professed a desire to restore civility and concern for all children in the district during his campaign, said, "I don't care if they go to public school or private school. We need to improve the public schools and we need to give the private-school students what they need."
Greenbaum, a longtime lightning rod for attacks by her opponents on the board, declined to comment on the election, as did Cancelliere. Levey said, "This is the end of the Lawrence School District as we know it. It's a sad day in the history of the Lawrence School District."
In the much tamer election in Hewlett School District 14, the budget passed handily, with 2,062 votes in favor and 1,314 opposed.
School board incumbents Harold Kislik and Stephanie Gould ran unopposed. Gould drew 2,072 votes, while Kislik received 1,925.
The proposition to accept an Excel grant from the state passed, with 2,438 votes in favor and 840 opposed. The funds are to be used for education, health services and programs for special needs children.
