At least three new members will be elected to the Buffalo Board of Education when voters fill six district board seats May 1.

New members will replace Donald Van Every in the North District, Jack Coyle in the Park District and Janique Curry in the Central District, all of whom chose not to seek re-election.

The election features 14 candidates in six districts, and five of those districts have at least two candidates.

The exception is the North District, where Catherine Nugent Panepinto, a lawyer and secretary of the Parent- Teacher Organization at Olmsted School 64, is the only candidate to file a petition. Barring a write-in campaign, she is assured of election to a three-year term with yearly pay of $5,000.

Unlike most municipal elections, School Board races generally attract candidates without highly developed political alliances or experience in public office.

“I see lots of individuals doing their own things,” Van Every said of the candidate field. “That’s probably the way it should be.”
And while school violence and the bold initiatives and style of Superintendent James A. Williams are highprofile issues, many board candidates highlight more general concerns about test scores, dropout rates and effective use of a $46 million state aid boost for 2007-08.

“It would be very, very easy to make this about James Williams,” said Lou Petrucci, one of three Park District candidates. “But it’s about so much more than James Williams.” These are the election highlights:


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