The three new Jordan-Elbridge school board members are David Gallaro (1,142), Lisa Long (1,217) and Lynette Zelias (810). Terrence Hanchett came in fourth place with 804 votes. “I’m not upset at all,” Hanchett said following last Wednesday school board meeting. “It was a win for everybody. All four candidates were very viable, valid candidates, and it was never a competition between us. We always had a goal in mind, to be positive for the community in moving things forward.” Hanchett and his wife Sandy have two boys, ages 12 and 11. He said he’s open to the idea of running again next year. “There is one seat available next year, and I’m the only one left,” he said.
All three elected candidates have entertained the possibility of bringing back suspended administrators. Business administrator Bill Hamilton and High School Principal Dave Zehner are both on paid leave, and district treasurer Anthony Scro was fired in October on what many residents felt were unfair grounds. A state supreme court judge ordered the district to hire Scro back, a ruling the school board voted to appeal. “I’ve seen some of the charges that have been released publicly … and from what I’ve seen I would say it’s at least possible that some of those guys should be coming back,” said Gallaro, who is manager of configuration management at Sensis Corporation in East Syracuse. Gallaro said he ran for the board to give voters more options.
“I have two boys in tenth grade, and I felt I needed to do what I can to get them the best education,” he said. Lisa Long, a mother of three children ages 7, 5 and 2 who teaches Spanish at West Genesee High School, said, “The wind is blowing in the right direction, but we’re not there yet.” “Everything things to be reevaluated at this point,” she added.
Lynette Zelias is also a mother of three children in the district. She is currently employed with Lyons National Bank as the commercial loan operations supervisor. “We’re going to stay objective, we’re going listen and then, if it’s appropriate, we will do the appropriate thing to either bring them back or go in another direction,” Zelias said.