Eastchester REVIEW THE
March 24, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 12 | www.eastchesterreview.com
Tuckahoe Republicans sweep close election By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer
Bronxville BOE chooses new school superintendent By TAYLOR BROWN General Assignment Reporter The Bronxville Board of Education has appointed Dr. Roy Montesano as the new superintendent of schools. He will begin his new position on July 1. Montesano has been working as the superintendent of schools for the Hastings-on-Hudson school district for the last five years. During his time at Hastingson-Hudson, he helped the middle school transition from a Focus school, or a school tagged as in need of improvement, to a Reward school, one that has shown improvement in state testing. Montesano said this switch
was made by developing a student-centered school philosophy. There had been a designated subgroup of students who weren’t performing as well on state testing, and the school had to try and find ways to improve their performance. Montesano said that within a year and a half, they were able to make this change. Montesano also helped create Makerspaces, which are community spaces where people are encouraged to get together to share thoughts and work on projects, in the Hastings middle and elementary schools. They are provided with supplies including 3-D printers, LEGO robotics and computer programming. Montesano graduated from
Fordham University with his doctorate in administration and supervision. He has worked in public education for 37 years, with 19 years of that spent as a superintendent. Montesano explained he began his work in public education as a science teacher. “I was always interested in science growing up; science and math were my two favorite subjects,” he said. Montesano said he was “born into an education family.” His father was a superintendent of schools, and his mother and three of his older siblings all went into teaching. Montesano said that he believes he is coming into this new position with a great deal of ex-
perience that will only add to the current school board. Montesano told the Review that the reason he chose Bronxville was because it is a wellknown and successful district, which “has a tradition of excellence.” He went on to say, “I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Bronxville as a district and [as a] community.” In February 2016, current Superintendent of Schools David Quattrone announced that he would finish his 12th year as a superintendent for Bronxville before retiring in June 2017. The search for Quattrone’s replacement began in September 2016. This process was aided by SUPERINTENDENT continued on page 9
With record voter turnout and an atypical nine-person race, three Republican officials in Tuckahoe have survived their most challenging election cycle to date, narrowly beating out two full slates of candidates to secure two more years on the village Board of Trustees. Mayor Steve Ecklond and trustees Tom Giordano and Greg Luisi, Republicans who also ran on the Conservative line, each won their fourth full terms in those positions in the March 21 village election. “It actually feels a lot better when you have a lot more competition and you win,” Ecklond told the Review shortly after learning of his victory on Tuesday night. “For sure, that’s the feeling that all three of us have tonight. We’re thrilled.” Ecklond defeated mayoral opposition from Anthony Fiore, a Democrat, and Melba Caliano, who ran on the Tuckahoe Independents line. Fiore was the first Democratic candidate to challenge Ecklond during his 6-year tenure as mayor. Fiore, who lost two previous bids for trustee in village elections, was joined this year by a full Democratic slate consisting of trustee candidates Nicholas Naber and Kathryn Thompson. Meanwhile, Caliano’s line also included a three-member, allfemale ticket along with trustee candidates Sarah DeRise and Jessica Cioffoletti. Stationed at Roma’s Restaurant on Columbus Avenue, the Republicans and their supporters
TUCKAHOE Election Results MAYOR: ECKLOND 409* CALIANO 358 FIORE
TRUSTEE: GIORDANO
394*
LUISI
378*
CIOFFOLETTI 368 THOMPSON 360 DERISE 347 NABER 331
* re-elected to village board
were noticeably less confident prior to the results. Ecklond said that was due to the abnormal nature of this election. “We understood that it would be very interesting when you have three full slates of candidates,” he said. “That’s never happened in Tuckahoe before. So, the dynamic of that, we knew, was going to have an impact on the ultimate outcome.” But each of the incumbents weathered what was an unusual challenge by Tuckahoe standards, which Ecklond said will bolster their confidence moving forward. This year’s election was marked by the highest voter turnout in recent village history; there were 1,099 votes cast for mayor. By comparison, when the same Republican slate ran for re-election in 2015 against Fiore, there were less than 300
INSIDE Eastchester fire chief to retire Story on page 5.
332
ELECTION continued on page 8