BY ROSE WELDON AND ROBERT PELAEZ
Three incumbents, a united challenging slate and an active district committee member will vie for three seats on the Port Washignton school board on May 18.
School board President Nora Johnson, Vice President Elizabeth Weisburd and Trustee Larry Greenstein are all seeking re-election, but are challenged by the united slate of Adam Smith, Adam Block and Justin Renna. Nanette Melkonian, unaffiliated with a slate, is also running as a challenger.
Block, Smith and Renna organized an initiative last summer to advocate that the school district offer five-day in-person instruction to students. The district ultimately brought back full-time instruction for kindergarten through fifth grade in October after hearing pleas from a 1,000-person Facebook group, a petition with 1,200 signatures and a 250-person rally in August.
“The success of the school year has validated our efforts, and we are proud of our role in making that happen,” a joint letter from the slate to Blank Slate Media said. “We represent parts of the community not represented on the current board, and have new ideas that will help revitalize the stagnant board’s impact on public education in Port Washington.”
Smith runs strategic and financial planning, as well as day-to-day operations, of a New York-based real estate investment and development firm. His expertise includes facility management, construction, financial analysis, budgeting and technology.
He is also the emergency preparedness chair and serves on the board of trustees for a local religious institution and preschool. Smith and his wife, Jenny, live in Port Washington North with their three children. He also coaches youth baseball on the peninsula.
Block is a graduate of Schreiber High School and received a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in health policy with a concentration in economics from Harvard University. Over the course of his career, he has worked as an economist for the U.S. Congress and wrote regulations for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Block owns and operates Port Skis, a ski equipment rental service based in Port, and is treasurer of Salem Elementary School’s Home School Association.
After working out of state for several years, Block, his wife and his three children returned to Port five years ago. His two oldest children, a pair of fraternal twins, began going to the public schools shortly thereafter. Their youngest child is now in kindergarten.
Block previously ran for trustee last year, but lost.
Renna is a professional ventilation expert employed by an international HVAC equipment manufacturer and an athletics coach at the secondary and elementary levels, with sports ranging from football and baseball to track and others.
Renna, who also serves on the board of directors for a local youth sports organization, said he is eager to have sports return to Port Washington safely and quickly. He lives with his wife, Randie, and their two children in Manorhaven.
The three said it was important for trustees to have children in the school district.
“Every decision made by the board impacts our children and our lives,” the letter said. “While we thank them for their service, they cannot possibly understand the toll of this past year on kids and their families.”
As for the incumbents, Johnson has served on the Board of Education since 2012. Before joining the board, she served in leadership positions for the Home and School Association, the Community Scholarship Fund and Relay for Life.
Weisburd, who chairs the district’s Budget and Facilities Committee, is seeking a third term.
Greenstein serves on the Curriculum Committee and has been a member of the board since 2004. His children have graduated from the school district, but he has remained on the board to give the perspective of residents without students and to speak for those who might otherwise be forgotten.
Melkonian is the only challenger unaffiliated with a slate. A co-founder and co-president of the grassroots Port Washington Advocates for Public Education, Melkonian previously served as an elementary educator and a special educator at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels. As her three children went through the school system, she would also serve on numerous committees at Guggenheim Elementary School and Weber Middle School.
Those in the district who are registered to vote can go to the in-person polling location, in the all-purpose room of the Flower Hill section of the Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School, located at 52 Campus Drive in Port Washington, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
A previous version of this story stated that Nanette Melkonian had served on the Board of Education’s Curriculum Committee. This has since been corrected.
