Upcoming City School District budget and Board of Education election

This year, four seats on the Ithaca City School District Board of Education (BOE) will expire in June. Dr. Sean Eversley Bradwell, Christopher Malcolm and Dr. Patricia Wasyliw’s terms are wrapping up, and Nicole LaFave’s 2022 resignation created the fourth opening. Members of the BOE serve three-year terms.

The three candidates with the most votes will serve from July 1, 2023 to June 26, 2026, while the fourth most popular candidate will serve the remainder of LaFave’s term, which expires June 30, 2024.

Tompkins Weekly spoke with each candidate about their local history, community relationships and why they want to serve on the BOE. The candidates are presented in the order they will appear on the ballot. Voting takes place on May 16 from noon to 9 p.m. Please visit https://www.ithacacityschools.org/vote to learn where to vote in this BOE and school budget election.

Joe Lonksy

Joe Lonsky lives in Danby and may be better known for his production and performance in the band, The Destination, which he started in 1995, but he also served on the Southern Cayuga Central School (SCCS) BOE for two terms. SCCS is Lonsky’s alma mater, where he received his Regents diploma. He also maintains a herd of beef cattle on his family farm, in addition to exercising his many skills in the trade industry.

“I would say I’m a fiscally frugal but accepting ‘live-and-let-live’ type of person. Everyone deserves to be treated well, and I work really well with others,” Lonsky said. “I am running for the ICSD BOE for the same reason I served the taxpayers of Southern Cayuga: to rein in spending.”

Lonsky said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for him was watching an ICSD box truck dumping what looked to be tables and chairs, still in good condition. He said he was wondering why this school equipment and furniture was getting thrown out when there was a 7.25% increase in the school district budget in 2022. 

“I care about these kids’ future and want to pitch in,” Lonsky said. “My wife taught at the Ithaca Montessori school, and so I know what they go through. Our teachers and students need to be taken care of. I also think the district needs to be doing more outreach; there aren’t a lot of people that vote at these kinds of elections.”

In addition to his position on reining in the budget, Lonsky wants to work with the district and the community to keep the two a combined entity, not separate, as he feels they have been. 

Dr. Sean Eversley Bradwell

Dr. Bradwell is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at Ithaca College. He has research/teaching interests in educational policy, pedagogy, and social change. Prior to his role at Ithaca College, Dr. Bradwell was a social studies teacher at the Lehman Alternative Community School (LACS).

He is an alumnus of Amsterdam High School in New York State; received a B.A. in political science from the University of Rochester; an M.S. in education from Rochester’s Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development; and a Ph.D. in policy analysis and management from Cornell University.   

Sean has previously been appointed as a Tompkins County Heritage Ambassador and is currently serving on ICSD’s Board of Education. He is chair of the Board Policy Committee and serves on the Facilities and Audit Committee. In addition, this year, Sean serves as Board President.

Through his professional, research, and personal involvement in education, as well as his work with community organizations, Sean is committed to working toward more meaningful learning and teaching. 

Information on Dr. Bradwell is courtesy of ICSD. He did not respond to an interview request from Tompkins Weekly.

Katie Apker

Katie Apker has a professional background in organizational behavior, business administration, and entrepreneurship. She is currently a research associate and Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University and holds an M.B.A. and B.S. from Brigham Young University. She serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board at Community Nursery School (CNS) in Cayuga Heights.  

She is the parent to four school-age children and is running to “help ICSD tangibly bolster teachers, remain empathetic and responsive toward all students, and re-center academic excellence.”

“The Ithaca City School District plays a central part in our students’ futures, our teachers’ career success, and our community’s vibrancy. Many in the community have sensed that we have a unique opportunity this election cycle to lean in to help address the immediate challenges of teacher retention that ICSD is facing, while maintaining ICSD’s commitment to social justice,” Apker said. “I am running to lend my experience as an organizational leader and diversity, equity, and inclusion scholar to help ICSD achieve its potential. As a community member and parent, I am highly invested in the success of ICSD.”

Apker also said that she cannot help but be involved in the community because she is very involved with her children that attend three different schools in the district. She said she came into connection with the schools through service.

“It was by regularly talking to my children’s teachers, volunteering at school events and communicating with other teachers and school staff and our school’s leadership, showing up at community and university events and staying in touch with parents and caregivers. It was by serving on other community boards,” Apker said. “I’m committed to continuing these patterns of behavior, and as a member of a board of education that represents all of our community. I am likewise committed to showing up and opening up to listen and to learn from the students, caregivers, and teachers from all of our schools, across the district.”

Garrick Blalock

Garrick Blalock was born and raised in Ithaca and is currently a West Hill resident. Blalock is currently a member of the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board, a commissioner on the City of Ithaca Board of Public Works and an academic advisor to Cornell University Tennis.

He received his B.A. in Applied Mathematics at Yale University and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Business Administration at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Associate Professor of Applied Economics and Policy at the SC Johnson College of Business and at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University.

“My motivation for running is that I’m married to a high school teacher; I see her success and her frustrations every night, which prompted me to take a hard look at some of the district policies, educational policies and how the district is performing,” Blalock said. “I saw a glass half full – I saw a lot of areas to be proud of and definitely saw some areas to improve. In terms of my background, I think I bring all qualities that can be contributed to a school district. I plan to bring that kind of evidence-based social science perspective to looking at education and policy decisions that the board makes.”

“I think, fundamentally, the most important thing it comes down to is that the school is woefully understaffed. They’re having difficulty hiring, and then there are a lot of the frustrations and problems that arise from that,” Blalock said. “When you don’t have enough people, things start to fall through the cracks, teachers feel overwhelmed and we aren’t serving our students in conditions like that.”

Christopher Malcolm

Christopher Malcolm has lived in Ithaca since 2001, and all four of his children have attended and graduated from ICSD. Malcolm has coached various youth sports as well as mentored and volunteered in youth advocacy.

Malcolm was elected to the Ithaca Board of Education in 2011 on a platform of “helping to move ICSD toward a time of inclusion, transparency, and excellence that will support every child to learn and perform at a high level.”

Chris currently serves on the ICSD Audit, Finance, and Human Resources committees and is the Board of Education Liaison to Northeast Elementary School and Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI).

Information on Malcolm is courtesy of ICSD. He did not respond to an interview request from Tompkins Weekly.

Dr. Patricia Wasyliw

Dr. Patricia Wasyliw has lived in Ithaca since 1993 and is the mother of two IHS graduates. Dr. Wasyliw is now also the grandmother of a current ICSD kindergarten student and a preschooler. She currently serves on the curriculum and policy committees and is the BOE liaison to South Hill Elementary School and Ithaca High School.

“I am passionate about supporting public education, and I appreciate the unique position of the ICSD. In my work, I have reviewed thousands of schools across the country and around the world, and almost all of the top-performing public schools are either selective magnet schools that students have to apply to, or largely homogenous schools in wealthy suburbs,” Dr. Wasyliw said. “The Ithaca City School District is unique in maintaining academic excellence while serving a population that is one of the most economically, racially and culturally diverse communities in which all of the children end up in one single high school – and alternative school. It is really an amazing district, and my children are better for having grown up here.”

She is currently an assistant dean and senior associate director of admissions in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University, chairing the international admissions committee. She was formerly an assistant professor of history at Ithaca College and has worked in higher education for over 30 years.

Dr. Wasyliw received a B.A. in medieval studies, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in medieval history. She was elected to the Ithaca Board of Education in 2011. Prior to her board service, she served as an ICSD PTA officer at Boynton Middle School and South Hill Elementary School, and at the district level on the PTA Council. She has also served on the board of directors for Coddington Road Community Center and the SUNY-Binghamton Preschool.

“Without a doubt, the most important issue I want to address is the aftereffects of COVID on our schools. We have to recognize and try to alleviate teacher stress, staffing shortages, teachers leaving the field and support staff being able to find less challenging jobs at equal or higher pay,” Dr. Wasyliw said. “Most of us are aware that our district faces fiscal challenges that no neighboring district shares, in that about three-quarters of our revenues come from local property taxes, while in surrounding districts 70-90% of their funding comes from the state. If elected for this term, I want to work to address this at the state level.”

Adam Krantweiss

Adam Krantweiss grew up in the New York metropolitan area, where he attended public school and his parents were NYC public school teachers and administrators. Krantweiss graduated from Binghamton University in 1998 and returned to earn his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2004. Krantweiss currently has two children who attend ICSD.

“As a clinical psychologist who conducts psychoeducational evaluations, I believe I have a great deal of experience to offer in assessment and decision making, along with the ability to practically develop plans to implement changes when needed,” Krantweiss said. “As a psychotherapist, I am capable of engaging in open dialogue and facilitating difficult conversations, which I feel will be necessary as we move forward.”

For the past 20 years, he has worked as a clinical psychologist while also teaching psychology classes at Binghamton University and Cornell University, and conducting psychological evaluations to determine needs of students and U.S. veterans with disabilities.

This is Krantweiss’s first time running for BOE.

“I am running to support teachers’ efforts to provide a robust educational curriculum that will allow each student to flourish. I wish to enact policies to foster an environment of excellence where current teachers are valued and supported,” Krantweiss said. “This means retaining and hiring outstanding teachers, allowing educators to implement an enriching, challenging curriculum and supporting the special education program.”

Editor’s note: Katie Apker’s quotes were added on May 10 after email correspondence and responses to Tompkins Weekly’s questions were shared.