Reyes, Silverstein and Di Iorio announce they'll run for Lawrence School Board

Less than two months before the May 11 Lawrence Board of Education elections, challengers have lined up to try and knock off the three incumbents whose seats are up this year.

The three challengers who have announced their intention to run for the District 15 school board are former Lawrence Public Schools administrator Jay Silverstein, Nicole Di Iorio of Inwood and Annie Reyes of North Lawrence. All three challengers, who announced their candidacies at a March 10 meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Inwood, said they are running to bring more diversity to the school board. The children of six of the seven current board members have attended private schools.

"We're trying to get a diverse board for a diverse community," said Di Iorio, a lifelong Inwood resident and a Lawrence High School graduate who is a youth counselor at the Five Towns Community Center in North Lawrence. "The Board of Education needs to hear the voices of the community when it makes decisions that impact the community."

Di Iorio, Reyes and Silverstein are being endorsed by a community organization called Pride in Diversity Inc., and the group is seeking donations in preparation for the elections.

Up for re-election are Trustees Dr. David Sussman, Dr. Sol Blisko and Nahum Marcus. Sussman has been a school board member since 1995, and while his children have attended the Lawrence Public Schools, his voting record has been in line with the other trustees, who send their children to private schools. Marcus and Blisko were elected to their seats in 2007, becoming the fourth and fifth members of the Orthodox community on the board who send their children to private schools.

Sussman, Blisko and Marcus did not return calls seeking comment.

The challengers have not yet determined which incumbent each will run against. The filing deadline for the election is April 12.