Mamaroneck School Board Candidates Announced

Three candidates will be on the ballot in May 15th's upcoming school board election: Current School Board President Robin Nichinsky will be seeking a third, 3-year term and two new candidates, Melany Gray and Roger Martin, will be looking to fill two seats vacated by Anant Nambiar and Linnet Tse.

According to a press release sent out by the Mamaroneck School Board Selection Committee yesterday, the three candidates vetted by the committee were whittled down from a large pool of applicants.

The Selection Committee is an independent nonpartisan organization made up of 24 elected citizens who find qualified candidates for the school board.

Below are bios submitted by the Selection Committee for the three candidates:

• Melany Gray and her husband have resided in Larchmont for 21 years.  Their two sons attended , the , and (MHS); their youngest is a senior at MHS.  Gray received her BS from the University of North Carolina and her J.D. from St John’s University School of Law.  Currently, Gray is a part-time associate attorney for Collazo, Florentino & Keil in New York.  Gray has been a past president of the Central and Hommocks PTAs, the MHS PTSA, as well as PT Council.  She has written about everything from district budget negotiations to school awards ceremonies for the online local news resource, The Larchmont Gazette (no longer in publication).  The committee was deeply impressed by Gray’s breadth of knowledge of the workings of the school board, and her capability to remain objective on a variety of different issues that currently concern the district. 

• Roger Martin and his wife have resided in Mamaroneck since 2008, when they returned to Dr. Martin’s family home.  The Martins have two grown daughters.  Dr. Martin attended , and graduated from MHS.  He holds BAs from Drew and Yale and a PhD from Oxford.  Currently, Dr. Martin volunteers with seniors at MHS as they prepare for the college admissions process.  He served as President of both Moravian College, from 1986-97, President of Randolph-Macon College, from 1997- 2006 and was and Associate Dean of Harvard Divinity School.  Dr. Martin is author of Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again. With his deep respect for our school district, Dr. Martin wishes to learn, lead, and listen while participating in the complex workings of public education in the current climate of external budget restraints, and increased cost burdens placed on local districts.  His three decades of financial and managerial expertise impressed the committee members, as well as his professional rapport and deep appreciation for the necessary elements of making change happen in a successful public education system.

• Robin Nichinsky, in her first two terms, immersed herself in the complex issues facing our school district, including a national superintendent search and collective bargaining negotiations.  She looks forward to using her hard-won knowledge, experience and skills to meet the needs of our community through a challenging climate and helping the district maintain an excellent quality education for our children.  Nichinsky serves on the school district Finance Committee, Communications Committee and is a board liaison to , the and attends town, village, school (TVS) meetings with our municipalities, along with Dr. Robert Shaps and Meryl Rubinstein. In the past, she has served as liaison to MHS, , MAS as well as SEPTA and the Teacher’s Institute. A practicing attorney, Nichinsky has a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School and a MA in Guidance and Counseling from the College of New Rochelle. She served as chair of the Mamaroneck-Larchmont Human Rights Commission, co-president of Central School, a PTA vice- president at Hommocks and Mamaroneck High Schools, and co-founded Central School's CORE Conflict Resolution Program.  Nichinsky and her husband Seth Schafler have lived in our community for 24 years.  Their daughters Eliza, Anna and Samantha all attended Mamaroneck District Schools.

For more information on becoming a member of the Selection Committee, visit the website here.