Your Nyack School Board Election Guide, Plus More Stories and Info

Nyack School Board Vote: Tuesday, May 20

There are three candidates for two Nyack School Board positions, so decisions must be made, citizens! Let’s take a look at the candidates, using their own words, and see if we can help you gain some clarity.

But first, some school board election day logistics:

• Polls will be open from 7 am to 9 pm on Tuesday, May 20
• There are four polling sites (click on the links for directions): Depew Senior Center, Nyack Public Schools Administration Building, Valley Cottage Elementary School, Upper Nyack Elementary School
• Find your polling site by clicking here.
• To vote, you need to be 1) a citizen of the United States; 2) at least 18 years old; 3) a resident of the school district for at least 30 days prior to the day of the vote; a registered voter with the Rockland County Board of Elections (Note: according to the district, “you are registered if you have voted at least once in a general or school election at your present address in the past 4 years.” Click here to find out if you’re registered.

Ok, now, on to the candidates and then a little about the budget, which is also up for approval by Nyackers.

The candidates who filed petitions (you need 33 signatures from local residents to have a valid petition) to run for the two open positions are: Jennifer Manca, Michael Mark, and Matthew Watson. Manca, who ran unsuccessfully two years ago, is back on the ballot to challenge incumbents Mark and Watson

The Nyack PTA Parent Council, which brings together the leadership of the PTAs from all five schools in the district, sent a questionnaire to the candidates. Read all of their complete answers here.

We’ll provide a few highlights below that, hopefully, give a glimpse into who the candidates are and how they view the major issues facing the district.

Brief Bio and Ties to Community

Manca: A 15-year Valley Cottage resident. Manca’s three kids attend each of the three levels of Nyack schools: Valley Cottage elementary, as well as the middle school and high school. She’s on the executive board of the Valley Cottage PTA and a Girl Scout Troop leader. Professionally, she’s the managing director of a global investigations firm where she provides “due dilligence, litigation support, pre-employment and asset search services to her clients. (Full disclosure: she also coached my daughter’s softball teams for a few years.)

Mark: A composer and highly-trained musician, Mark’s big claim to fame is his collaborative work writing and performing with legendary singer/songwriter Tom Chapin, which he says “are used in music rooms and classrooms all over the country.” He raised two kids in the district and his wife, Mary, worked in the district as a reading specialist for 22 years. He’s served on the board for several years.

Watson: A Rockland County native and resident of the school district since 2002, Watson says he was “involved parent” before being elected to the board in 2022. Now a teacher, Watson is a former optometrist who owned and operated his own business in Nyack, Eyevolution Optique (now under new ownership as Hudson Spectacles). Watson says he and spouse “have been involved supporters of several [local] nonprofits.”

What they say they bring to the table:

Watson: His background as a teacher and entrepreneur, Watson says, gives him the “experience and endurance to build consensus among my peers with a pragmatic approach that does not compromise the ideals of the district.” He says his first term allowed him get “acclimated” to everything that comes with being a board member.

Manca: Analytical skills, including an “ability to identify red flags and scrutinize data,” which she says will come in handy “concerning the Business Items on the agenda.” Because her kids attend 60% of Nyack schools, she says she has “more firsthand knowledge” of the “day-to-day” for both students and parents.

Mark: Experience on the board, which is, indeed, extensive. Also, just pure optimism. Consider this quote: “when there is a challenge to be faced, the Nyack community finds a way to come together to meet the challenge in the support of our kids.”

District weaknesses and how they would address them

Mark: Two things are issues for Mark. One, there have been issues with the maintenance of facilities, which he says is “pleased to see our superintendent addressing.” And two, he wants to explore more after-school programming for the elementary schools.

Watson: Says he wants to see “our therapeutic classroom experience” expanded into the middle and high schools, so “fewer of our kids are sent out of district,” which will, Watson believes, generate revenue from other county districts.

Manca: Believes the district has “struggled to prioritize the needs of our largest minority” group, Hispanics / Latinx, who make up more than 30% of the student population. She acknowledges the district is making improvements, but not enough. Everyone, she says, deserves an “equitable, high-quality education.”

We don’t have time to dive into the rest of their answers, but we encourage you to do your homework and nerd out about these candidates. They provided thoughtful, interesting and detailed responses — on curriculum, cell phone bans, educational data, racial equity, school safety, and much more — that we can’t do justice in paraphrasing here.

So, please read up and vote!

In other news:

You may have heard about former Nyack trustee Emily Feiner being hauled out of Congressman Mike Lawler’s recent “town halls.” If you haven’t seen it, here’s the raw footage:

Read Feiner’s thoughts on the incident and why she was demanding answers from her representative on lohud. She elegantly ties her own experience with her father’s getting blacklisted for supporting racial equality back in 1949. Feiner writes that he was vindicated by the course of history and she’s worried we may be approaching another “dark” chapter.

Here’s a poignant snippet: “Lawler and his Republican colleagues are claiming ignorance in the face of these brazen attacks on our Constitution. They tell us they’re standing up to Trump behind closed doors, but all we’ve seen is fear and complicity. If my own congressman can’t tell me where his red line is, at what point he’s willing to say enough, then I can only conclude he has no red line, and that he will let democracy crumble before he so much as says a cross word about Trump.”

For his part, Lawler says he has put in place ground rules at his “town halls,” which he says are private events, including no video recording and being disruptive, which Feiner violated by yelling at him to answer the “red line” question. It’s unclear, if, legally-speaking, Lawler can hold “private” “town hall” meetings. (Editor’s note: we’re using quotation marks because it’s unclear how these terms are being utilized.)

Meanwhile, the race to face off against Lawler is getting crowded, with six Democrats now in the mix, according to lohud.

We’ll dig into these latest Village of Nyack board meetings in future posts, but here are the streams from both April 24 and May 9. Enjoy!

Food for thought …

Top 5 Local Burgers (feel free to disagree: info@nyacknewsandviews.com): 1. The Filling Station; 2. Burger Loft; 3. Hudson House (bar only); 4. Olde Village Inn; 5. Prohibition

Meeting you should think about attending in the coming weeks: The Village Board of Trustees will hold its monthly meeting at Village Hall (9 N Broadway) from 7:30-9:30 pm on Thursday, May 22. Among other agenda items, there will be a public hearing on Nyack’s definition of “murals.” Stream the meeting here. Click here to find more information about local meetings and civic happenings.

ICYM NNV’s weekly features: See Andrea Swenson’s newest Photo Shoots; Bill Batson’s latest “Nyack Sketch Log”; Mike Hays’ most recent “Nyack People & Places”; and past editions of “The Villages.”

Musical Outro (send us recs!)

Here’s Green Onions by Booker T & The MGs, courtesy of reader Melissa Curley. Thanks Melissa!

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