For the first time since May 2015, the upcoming Board of Education election is expected to have more candidates on the ballot than spots available. Former Country Legislature candidate David Shapiro announced that he is running, and according to The Ithaca Times, all three incumbent members whose seats are up for election—Ann Reichlin, Nicole LaFave, and Moira Lang—intend to be on the ballot as well. In the election, held on May 15, voters will be able to vote for up to three candidates, and the three who receive the most votes will enter three-year terms.
The election follows a year that has seen significant community engagement at board meetings. Last winter, multiple meetings brought out large portions of the community as a response to theater casting controversies, contributing to the replacement of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Hairspray as the spring musical. More recently, the issue of discipline at Enfield Elementary School has drawn people from opposing sides to voice their opinions in front of the Board. The emergence of an outsider in the race will mean more competition for a spot on the Board than in elections in the previous two years.
Newcomer David Shapiro, CEO of the Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca, cites an interest in the expansion of pre-K as one of his reasons for running. “My youngest [son] will probably never get the chance to enroll in public pre-kindergarten having seen the district’s total number of classes reduced in a prior year’s budget cuts. I am of the belief that universal pre-kindergarten should exist,” he said in a campaign Facebook post. In January, Shapiro had also voiced support for students critical of the casting of the original musical. The three current members running have all been on the Board of Education for at least two years, a period that has included the more recent controversy surrounding race in theater among other events.