Hempstead school board challenges trustee election and suspends 2 in clerk's office

The Hempstead school district’s Board of Education has placed two district employees on leave amid a challenge to the results of last week’s school elections, according to district officials.

Voters on May 19 approved the district’s $378.2 million spending plan 463-141 and authorized the creation of a new capital reserve fund. Victor Pratt, an incumbent trustee, defeated challengers Eugenia Girtman, Gwendolyn Jackson and Caprice Rines with 288 votes, district officials said during a board meeting held the night of the election.

At that meeting, the board’s president, Jeffrey Spencer, introduced a resolution to dispute the outcome.

“The Board of Education hereby directs its general counsel, Guercio & Guercio, LLP, to commence an immediate appeal to the Commissioner of Education regarding the results of the May 19, 2026, election,” Spencer said at the late-night meeting.

The board voted 5-0 to appeal the results without any public discussion.

The board of education is contesting the results of the trustee election but not the budget vote, Ron Edelson, a spokesman for the district, clarified after this story was published. If state officials accept the district’s appeal, there would only be a revote for the trustee seat, Edelson said.

Clerks put on leave

Then on May 22, the board met for an emergency session and placed the district clerk, April Keys, and the district clerk pro tem, Lottie Whitehead, on administrative leave pending an investigation, according to Pratt.

Edelson said the district does not comment on personnel matters.

He noted the board took no action other than that concerning the employees.

Neither Keys nor Whitehead returned phone calls.

Pratt said he was unable to attend the meeting on short notice. “There was no advance notice, they weren’t posted and they just had the meeting, and that’s wrong in itself,” he said in an interview.

He said other board members have questioned how absentee ballots were handled and believes they are seeking to oust him from the five-member body.

“They spent the last year trying to come up with reasons for me to be removed from the board,” Pratt said.

Last November, the school board launched an investigation into Pratt after he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and other traffic violations during a traffic stop in Uniondale, Newsday reported at the time.

Spencer, the board president, did not return an email or phone call seeking more information.

The district has unsuccessfully appealed election results in the past.

In 2015, the board of education sought to annul the results but the state later dismissed allegations of fraud and disruptions at a polling site and two board members retained their seats, according to a 2016 Newsday report.

The prospect of having to re-do the election is troubling to Pratt.

“Elections are expensive, and it says that they really don't respect the public's time or their taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Lawyers at the Farmingdale firm Guercio & Guercio could not be reached for more information.

The Hempstead school board is contesting the results of the May 19 trustee election. An earlier version of this story misstated the board’s action due to incomplete information from the district.