Incumbents run unopposed for Lawrence board

For the first time since 2012, the incumbents running for re-election to retain their seats on the Lawrence School District’s Board of Education are unopposed for the three-year terms.

Michael Hatten, 77, is running for his fourth consecutive term. He previously served as a trustee from 2006 to 2009. A professional for-profit educator who owns the Far Rockaway-based Global Business Institute and the New York Automotive and Diesel Institute, a for profit college, Hatten has 52 years of post-secondary educational experience.

He said when first elected to the Lawrence board he dove into learning the world of secondary education and helped to ensure that the district skirted reporting issues with the state.

“I understand education on multiple levels and my focus is most clear as we let the professionals do their job to create terrific educational institutions,” he said, referring to the district’s administrators and teachers and its four schools.

Hatten, a Cedarhurst resident, points to the district using its funds to renovate and upgrade the school buildings as one of the board’s top accomplishments in the past three years.

Along with the previous overhauls to the buildings, the district is asking residents to approve a building capital reserve for $5 million that is for the renovations at the high school, middle school and primary school, which includes air conditioning, classroom renovation and districtwide technology, and security upgrades.

“This board of trustees is positioning this district to grow and continue or relationships with our community,” he said. “If you keep the students in mind you never go wrong.”

Tova Plaut, 52, is running for her fourth term. The Cedarhurst resident is the director of a private nursery school in Commack and noted “We have much to be proud of and a lot more work to do,” Plaut said, adding that she has been an educator for three decades. “I am running again because I am committed to ensuring that every child in our district continues to receive a high quality education, to build upon our successes and continue to improve outcomes for students.”

She points to the board’s success in managing the budgets and improving the school buildings and playing fields without raising taxes or cutting programs. “Our board oversaw the implementation of a food distribution program for over 14,000 children each week during the pandemic and partnered with community leaders to ensure that children continued to receive the services they needed,” Plaut said.

Dr. David Sussman, 72, a urologist grew up in the district, lives in Lawrence and is seeking his 11th term. “The same principles, the same reason I got on the board, to take care of the whole population of the district and have the education in the schools as high as we can,” he said, in explaining why he wants to retain his board seat. “The school board does whatever it needs to do for the entire school district, private schools and public schools. We are still committed and really pleased with our administrators and do what’s best for everybody.”

Sussman also highlighted the continued effort to modernize the school buildings, the food program at the height of Covid and the dedication from administrators such as Superintendent Ann Pedersen and building principals.
Voting on the budget, trustees and propositions takes place

May 17 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the Number Two School, 1 Donahue Ave., Inwood; Lawrence Middle School, 195 Broadway, Lawrence; Lawrence High School, 2 Reilly Road, Cedarhurst; and Atlantic Beach Village hall, 65 The Plaza, Atlantic Beach.,