By Brian McLaughlin
O'Connor, a Lynbrook resident, collected 1,005 votes while Alexander, who lives in Lakeview, amassed 538 votes. They were battling it out at the polls for the seat vacated by Brian Monahan, who declined to seek reelection.
O'Connor said she was genuinely surprised by the outcome but was looking forward to returning to the board.
The Malverne school board election was the only one that was contested in the three districts of Malverne, Lynbrook and East Rockaway.
Voters in East Rockaway and Lynbrook returned their incumbent members to the school boards in the unopposed races. In Lynbrook, David Penso was elected to his second term on the Lynbrook school board with 984 votes, while Alicemarie Bresnihan, now in her 28th year of board membership, received 1,081 votes.
Voters in East Rockaway returned Salvatore Scrimenti and William Barton Jr. to their seats on the board. Scrimenti, now in his fourth term, won 645 votes, and Barton, in his third term, collected 549 votes.
In Malverne, O'Connor, who has had three children graduate from Malverne High School, left her seat on the board in 1998 after 20 years as trustee to spend more time with her family. She said she wanted to return after witnessing a drop in Regents exam scores throughout the district, and becoming concerned with the growing number of illegal students entering the district.
Alexander is also not a stranger to the school district community, having sat on numerous district committees. This year's election marks Alexander's second unsuccessful bid for school board after his last attempt in 1998.
During his campaign, Alexander addressed what he felt was a lack of cohesion between the various aspects of the school community, including the students, the parents, and the teachers. The students need to realize why they are in school, said Alexander, who has two children attending Malverne schools. He added that parents must become more involved and teachers must work harder to capture student interest.
Upon hearing the results of the election, a disappointed Alexander said, I feel that my opponent's campaign used rhetoric and lies that attempted to divide the district, and I question [O'Connor's] reputation.
O'Connor denied Alexander's accusations, saying everything I printed on my fliers was the truth.
The three primary goals for O'Connor during her upcoming term are improving test scores, enforcing student eligibility regulations, and stabilizing the administration.
The latest Malverne Regents exam scores range from 10 to nearly 50 per cent lower than those of neighboring districts, a discrepancy that O'Connor hopes to remedy.
In addition, according to O'Connor, students from as far away as the Bronx are illegally attending Malverne schools. A system is in place but it's not being followed, she said.
Also, she said, Malverne has had five different
superintendents in the past seven years. O'Connor
said such instability in the ranks of the administration creates a domino effect that trickles down to numerous aspects of the district community. It's not good for the children, or the taxpayers in the school district, said O'Connor, who plans to establish better cooperation and support between the board and the superintendent in order to keep the current administration in place and working properly.
Lynbrook election
Penso has been a Lynbrook resident for nearly half a century and is a graduate of Lynbrook High School, class of 1970. He is married to another Lynbrook native, the former Joanne H. Kimmel, now a teacher with Lynbrook schools.
Penso's focus on the board is with issues of safety. A member of the school violence task force, Penso says he plans to continue insuring that the district is continuing to monitor health and safety issues.
Bresnihan brings extensive experience to the school board both in terms of her personal and professional life. A Lynbrook resident since 1959, Bresnihan raised nine children in the community, all of whom are Lynbrook High School graduates.
With her time on the school board now spanning four decades, Bresnihan has been witness to almost all developments within the Lynbrook school district in recent history, including the terms of three different superintendents, whom she believes did much to bring Lynbrook schools to their current position of excellence. Their educational leadership has brought to the district our recent successes in academic and program development.
Bresnihan said that even after such a long time with the board she is still just as enthusiastic about serving the children of the community.
East Rockaway election
Scrimenti began his service on the school board almost immediately after graduating East Rockaway High School 10 years ago. Today, he is an administrative assistant with the Town of Hempstead in the town attorney's office.
Scrimenti is proud of his past accomplishments with the board, especially the recent bond issue, which called for an overhaul of the district's computer systems, and allowed for the construction of a new auditorium.
Scrimenti's view of his upcoming term is equally as positive. He believes that the budget is well balanced and better reflects the community's wants and needs in its educational program for the kids.
Barton, originally from Valley Stream, now has two children attending East Rockaway schools.
Barton said he is proud to be a part of a district that has managed to continue to grow and develop new programs while still keeping costs controlled. We try to be responsible to the community and do what is right for the students, he said.
In terms of his future hopes for the board, Barton hopes to increase parental involvement and extend the foreign language program to younger grades. Barton insists that, the board is a team effort and we will continue to work together as such.
