New Rochelle School Board Member Encourages Greater Engagement Between Davis Parents and Board Members

Written By: Robert Cox

New Rochelle Board of Education member David Lacher told a group of parents they were among the “most demanding” in the district. Lacher went on to encourage those parents to approach board members in public or call them at home with their concerns.

“We are all public people,” said Lacher. “Our telephone numbers are published.”

Lacher was speaking Tuesday at back-to-school night at the George M. Davis Elementary School.

Lacher went on to encourage parents to attend board meetings, watch them on TV or online and to be demanding of the board. He called demanding parents a source of strength for the district.

“We know on the board that Davis parents are among the most demanding parents in the entire school district,” said Lacher. “I don’t think you ever let us forget that. That’s OK but that’s part of the involvement, that’s really what makes us all strong, makes us the district that we are and helps us with the potential to continue to grow and continue to get better and better.”

Lacher went on to describe direct engagement with board members as an important part of the school board’s culture.

“We’re out and about in the community, in the supermarket and the dry cleaners, in Starbucks, in the dog park, you know we’re everywhere and there’s no place to dodge and no way to dodge and it is a very strong part of our culture that we are out and engaged and active in the community.”

AT&T’s AnyWho.com and the Official White Pages sites indicate that one-third of the board members do not have publicly listed telephone numbers. The Board of Education page on the NRED.org web site does not list phone numbers but does list e-mail addresses.

Naomi Brickell Not Listed (nbrickel@nred.org)
Jeffrey Hastie 914-235-9667 (jhastie@nred.org)
David Lacher 914-235-3134 (dlacher@nred.org)
Lianne Merchant 914-633-6633 (lmerchant@nred.org)
Valerie Orellana Not Listed (vorellana@nred.org)
Chrisanne Petrone 914-235-7714 (cpetrone@nred.org)
Deirdre Polow 914-235-3964 (dpolow@nred.org)
Mary Jane Reddington 914-636-0155 (mjreddington@nred.org)
Rachel Relkin Not Listed (rrelkin@nred.org)

Board of Education page on the NRED.org web site continues to list Jeffrey Hastie as Vice President of the New Rochelle Board of Education. He was removed as Vice President after one year of what is traditionally a two-year term thereby blocking Hastie from becoming board president in 2013.

One thought on “New Rochelle School Board Member Encourages Greater Engagement Between Davis Parents and Board Members”

  1. Holy Cow!
    Yeah right!

    Go ahead, call ANY of these people on the Board…Parents it will be used against you!

    Oh sure, they want YOUR information…If THEY were doing their jobs effectively they wouldn’t need YOU as parents to tell them!!!!

    Parents…Be Cautious!!!!

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