Cannon to Leave School Board, District Announces Retirement of Administrator and Teachers

Nina CannonBoth her board colleagues and the administration appeared to be surprised by school board member Nina Cannon’s announcement at the BOE meeting on Monday night that she has decided not to run for a second term on the school board. Well-liked and respected, it was assumed that Cannon would continue to serve and move into a leadership position on the board during her second two-year term.

However, citing the responsibilities of her full-time job at Hunter College, Cannon said she was finding it difficult to manage her professional responsibilities and the time commitments she has as a board member, including attendance at board meetings and liaison assignments. She said, “I value the work we do at the table,” but felt that she could not commit to another three years. She assured the board that her “term does not end until June,” and vowed to “carry out her commitment.”

Cannon has joined a growing list of recent board members who opted to retire after one term on the board. In recent years Joel Gurin, Jonathan Lewis, Sunil Subakrishna and Art Rublin have all decided not to serve a second three year term which left voids for experienced members to assume the roles of board vice president and president.

In June, in addition to Cannon, both Leila Maude and William Natbony will complete their six years of service on the School Board. The newly elected School Board Nominating Committee will now need to nominate three candidates to serve.

In other personnel changes, Assistant Superintendent Drew Patrick announced the following retirements as of July 1, 2019:

Larry Chatzinoff – Assistant Principal at the Scarsdale Middle School
Cheryl Higgins – Teacher at Heathcote Elementary School
Kate Krahl - Social Studies Teacher Scarsdale High School
Deb Krisanda – Teacher at Greenacres Elementary School
Lisa Onofri – Teachers at Heathcote Elementary School
Elizabeth Ungar – Math Teacher at Scarsdale High School

Here is an announcement from the School Board Nominating Committee about their candidate recruitment:

SBNC seeks candidates to nominate for three seats on the Scarsdale School Board: Nina Ledis Cannon not seeking second term on Board of Education.

The School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) is seeking to identify potential candidates to serve on the Scarsdale Board of Education. The SBNC held its first meeting of 2019 on January 13th and is now engaged in active outreach to build a robust candidate pool.

Over the next several weeks, SBNC members will recruit and review candidates in order to nominate three candidates for the nonpartisan slate in the next school board election. The school board election and budget vote are slated for Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Bill Natbony and Leila Maude are completing their tenures on the board and Nina Ledis Cannon has chosen not to seek renomination.

The SBNC invites all Scarsdale School District residents to propose names of qualified individuals to serve on the Scarsdale Board of Education by email to [email protected]. A candidate must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, a qualified voter, and a resident of the Scarsdale School District for at least one year prior to the May 21st school board election date. Jordan Copeland, SBNC Chair, stated: “The non-partisan SBNC process is critical to the excellence of our Board of Education and our schools. This year we will be proposing three new candidates for the Board, so this is a rare opportunity for service-minded Scarsdalians to help shape the educational policies that profoundly affect the children of our community.”

Interested candidates should complete a biographical information form and submit it via email to the SBNC Chair, Jordan Copeland, at [email protected] as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 PM on Tuesday, February 26, 2019. Forms are available on the SBNC website at www.scarsdalesbnc.com. Please see the “Join the School Board” tab or contact the SBNC Chair for further information.

Contacts:
Jordan Copeland, Chair
Tanya Singer, Vice Chair