Athul Santhosh, 18, recent Herricks High graduate, elected to school board

Nearly four years before his election to Herricks' school board at 18 years old, Athul Santhosh was a high school sophomore tasked with delivering a speech to the panel.

Santhosh was Herricks High School's representative to the board. The group wanted to hear more about the student perspective.

"I thought I was just going to be in the back of the room, taking notes," Santhosh said. "I was not ready for it at all, and I was jumbling my words."

"But the fact that I was able to have a voice at the table," he added, "was pretty amazing."

That experience proved instructive for Santhosh, who defeated two other candidates last month to win a three-year seat on the board. Santhosh, who graduated from the high school last year and just wrapped his freshman year at the City University of New York, said he hopes to foreground students' perspectives in his new role.

"I love where I grew up," Santhosh, who will turn 19 before he is sworn in on July 1, said in an interview. "It's what made me who I am. So being able to give back to the community in a more meaningful way would be amazing."

Santhosh will help oversee the district's $149.3 million budget, though the inner workings of the board is familiar terrain. Santhosh was the school's representative on the board from his sophomore year through graduation. 

Tony Sinanis, Herricks' superintendent, said in an interview he was hardly surprised Santhosh won an election at such a young age. Sinanis said he heard there was a large turnout among current students and recently graduated ones. 

"Athul is driven, and if he puts something in his mind's eye, he's going to make it happen," Sinanis said. "He is just so committed to the Herricks school community. ... I think that resonated with folks." 

Focus on higher ed, internships

Santhosh's mother, Nisha, said her son has long exhibited leadership qualities. 

"He used to mentor younger kids," she said. 

One of Athul Santhosh's goals is to help make Herricks students more attractive candidates to college admissions officers. He wants to beef up the high school's internship program and make extracurricular activities more accessible.

"We're a very academic-focused school, among some other things. We're all dying to get into Ivy Leagues and top-20 colleges," Santhosh said. "It's about getting where you want to at the end of high school, so just making sure that happens." 

Santhosh joins a small list of teenagers to successfully run for a Long Island school board seat. The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1971, lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. In New York State, those eligible to vote are also eligible to hold public office. 

In 1972, Tom DiNapoli was elected to the Mineola Board of Education as a high school senior. The then-18-year-old was met with a wave of high-fives from his classmates at school the morning after his win, he recalled.

DiNapoli, the first 18-year-old elected to a school board in the region, served for a decade, including two stints as president. He later was elected to the Assembly and has been New York State comptroller since 2007. But his start was "tenuous," he said, after defeating an incumbent.

"I clearly was not the choice of the other folks on the school board," he said. "I think it took a little bit of time for the rest of the board to get used to me, and for me to understand what my role would be. But I have to say, after a few months, we did develop a working relationship."

Teens add value

DiNapoli has served as something of a mentor to teens looking to run for school board over the years. He said he advises them to be good listeners and to not be afraid to ask questions.

"I think having recent graduates on a school board adds value," DiNapoli said. "It certainly did for Mineola back in the day, and I always was somewhat surprised that many more teenagers didn't run for school board." 

After DiNapoli, 18-year-old Jim Sherry was elected to the Mineola board in 1984, according to Newsday archives. Then, in 1986, 18-year-old Ken Wagner, a senior at Seaford High School, defeated the school board's vice president. In 2004, Douglas Pascarella, then 18, won election to the Plainedge school board as a senior, but not without raising questions from then-Superintendent John Richman. 

"Douglas is [a] very nice young man," Richman told Newsday at the time. "But he's just that. He's an 18-year-old senior."

Twenty-two years later, Pascarella is a sitting trustee. 

Pascarella, now 40, said in an interview that the superintendent's posture never softened. He spent 12 consecutive years on the board, before returning in 2024 after an 8-year break: He has a child entering kindergarten next year and wants to be more involved.

"It's unusual when you're 18. You get put on the board with a bunch of 40-, 50-year-olds, they're very stuck in their ways," he said. "He's a product of the system, too, that's also key. You know what goes on in the building, you know the players."

Josh Lafazan's tenure on the Syosset school board after his 2012 election was marked by tension. Lafazan had regularly condemned the leadership of Superintendent Carole Hankin, who made an annual salary of more than $500,000. Hankin resigned the following year. 

Santhosh said he expects to join a much friendlier school board, alongside mentors who have helped him get to this point. He said his focus is on the seat he just won. Santhosh, who is transferring to New York University in September, still lives at home, and plans to commute for college classes.

"I just see myself doing school board," he said, "for now."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.