We have a School Board race. Three people are running for two seats in the upcoming election.
By Sarah Varney
We have a School Board race.
Three people are running for two seats in the upcoming election. The candidates are Katy Keohane Glassberg, who is running for reelection; Bob Zahm, local school and city watchdog, who previously served on the School Board for six years; and newcomer Nicole Weber, a former human resources specialist for Bloomberg Media. Last month, Kendall Egan announced she would not run for another term.
In the May 21 election, the two seats will go to the top two vote recipients. Glassberg was first elected to the board in 2010 after serving in a volunteer capacity at Milton that culminated in a two-year stint as PTO president.
Zahm is well known for his trenchant budget parsing and heavily detailed questions at School Board meetings. He said he’s running again because he believes he “can bring experience to what is a relatively new board. The continuity of financial expertise is also a factor in light of the fact that numbers whiz Kathleen Ryan is retiring as an assistant superintendent.”
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, the father of three has lived in Rye since 2001. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in Computer Science from Lehigh University and a Master’s in Business from the University of Pittsburgh. Zahm is a high-level IT consultant.
His motivation for returning to the School Board centers on addressing the financial challenges faced by the district by reducing labor and non-labor costs including finding more cost-effective health insurance providers for school personnel. He’d also like to see the better use of technology for both student use and for teacher training.
Nicole Weber’s candidacy is the result of wanting to serve the community in a capacity that matches her corporate experience and skill set. “I believe that my passions, my interests and my skill set are well suited to serving on the board,” Weber said.
“A lot of my business experience was in these very messy budget situations. I have a lot of experience with budget efficiency, cost cutting, training development and employee relations,” she adds. Her other work experience includes HR stints at McKinsey and Merrill Lynch, and as a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs.
Weber holds a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and an MBA from Cornell. Weber is a relative newcomer to the city. She and her husband moved here in May of 2011. “We chose Rye because of its community and because of its school system. The involvement of parents here is incredible. I’ve found that inspiring,” she says.
In addition to the seat currently held by Egan, Board Vice President Glassberg, is up for reelection.
Glassberg is a litigation attorney with degrees from Boston University in Communications and Brooklyn Law School. She and her husband Richy have lived in Rye for 17 years. She has two sons, a sophomore and a seventh grader. In her time on the board, Glassberg has served on an impressive number of committees including the Policy Committee, the Tax Cap Task Force, the Civility Initiative in conjunction with the Rye Youth Council, Facilities, and the K-12 Science Committee, among others.
Asked to trumpet her proudest achievements over her three years on the board, Glassberg stressed her backstage efforts to successfully ease a number of important transitions that the Rye City School District has made and is in the process of making. Glassberg notes that the tax cap is only in its second year and budget concerns will increase. In addition, APPR, the new mandated teacher evaluation system is just being put in place and there are five labor agreements to be negotiated starting this summer. “The skills I bring to the board will be crucial to helping the district navigate the next three years” she says.
Residents interested in running for the School Board have until May 1 to get their petitions in.
