Lawrence voters will go to polls a week early

Voters in the Lawrence school district go to the polls for school elections Tuesday - a week earlier than nearly all other districts statewide to avoid a conflict with a Jewish holiday that falls on May 18.

The timing might be unusual but not its character: As in years past, challengers are trying to unseat incumbents on the Board of Education - made up mostly of Orthodox Jews - citing continued divisiveness in the community.

One challenger, Jay Silverstein, filed suit against the district in March, claiming he lost his $140,000-a-year guidance director's job because board members viewed him as "anti-Orthodox." He is running as a team with Annie Reyes and Nicole Di Iorio.

Silverstein is challenging incumbent Solomon Blisko.

"The most important issue facing our district is the challenge to heal the growing divisiveness within the community and move forward toward a common path," Silverstein said.

Blisko, 51, a dentist who has lived in the district for two decades, is seeking his third term. He has two children who have attended private school. He said the board has made improvements.

"We identified schools that were open that needed to be closed, we excessed administrators where we were top-heavy, and we identified ineffective programs and replaced them with better ones," he said.

The state Education Department allowed the elections Tuesday to avoid a conflict with Shavuot, celebrated seven weeks after Passover to commemorate the receiving of the Torah. Two other districts in the state also hold elections Tuesday.

"We believe this is the first time this permission has been requested and granted, because it may have been the first time the Jewish holiday fell on the statewide voting day," Education Department spokeswoman Jane Briggs said.

In Lawrence, voting takes place from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Voters will consider a budget of $94,073,064 for the 2010-11 school year, an increase of 2.61 percent over the current budget of $91,680,810.

District officials declined to provide the tax impact for the average house, saying there were too many variables. The budget includes 4.9 percent contractual and salary step increases for teachers.

Di Iorio is running against incumbent Rabbi Nahum Marcus. Running for a third seat are incumbent David Sussman and Reyes. Each seat is for three years.

Marcus, 50, has lived in the district 14 years. A vice president of sales for United Packaging Group, he has three children in private school and has served on the board for three years.

He said he wants "to continue the excellent job the current board has done and is doing."

Di Iorio, a lifelong resident who graduated from Lawrence in 1998, is the youth supervisor and after-school program supervisor at the Five Towns Community Center.

"An 'us vs. them' mentality had developed to such an extent that there is no communication among people who send their children to different school settings," she said.

Sussman, 60, said the board has implemented several beneficial programs, such as universal prekindergarten. A board member since 1995, he has four children who attended the public schools, including a son in 10th grade. Sussman said upcoming teacher contract negotiations are very important.

"These are tough economic times and the upcoming teachers' contract will determine the fate of our district," said Sussman, a urologist.

Reyes, who has lived in the district for 25 years, has eight children and come September, will have five grandchildren in the district.

She said there is a failure to inform the public about major decisions.

"By sharing information and having the public part of the process, the divisiveness can then be healed," she said.