LIVINGSTON MANOR – “Things are exciting,” Roscoe/Manor School Superintendent John Evans said Friday afternoon after he heard 19 local residents will be running for the newly-merged school board on February 13.

“The next five months will be a little hectic,” Evans said. “But we have real good stuff happening up here.”

Nineteen residents of the newly-formed Livingston Manor-Roscoe Central School District have filed completed petitions in hopes of being elected as members of the district’s first board of education.

On Dec. 19, when the residents of the Livingston Manor and Roscoe Central Schools approved the centralization merger of the two districts, they also determined that the new board would consist of seven members who will serve three-year terms.

The following people will be on the ballot, in the following order determined by a drawing held at 7 p.m. at the Livingston Manor school:

•  Justin Murphy

•  Ed Gorr

•  Dan Johnston

•  James Buck

•  Elizabeth Williams

•  Nicole Park

•  Tasse Niforatos

•  Tom Ward

•  Joe Langan

•  Kourtni Guzzo

•  Chris Tuleweit

•  Amy Leroy

•  Jill Smith

• Gary Dahlman

• Roy Rogers

• Shawn Dutcher

• Dan Smith

• Rick Martin

• Amanda Krause

Voting will take place between noon and 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 13, at the Livingston Manor school. Voters must be 18 or older, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the Livingston Manor-Roscoe Central School District for at least 30 days.

Absentee ballots are available. 

Applications sent by mail must be received by the district by Feb. 7, to ensure adequate time for postal processing and delivery. The last day for ballot applications to be received in person is Feb. 12. Completed ballots must be received by mail or hand-delivered to the District Clerk before 5 p.m. Feb. 13 to be counted. 

For more information, email District Clerk Marlyn Peters at Marlyn.Peters@lmcs.us.

There will be two meet-and-greet events to learn more about the candidates before the election. Hosted by the Roscoe and Livingston Manor Teacher Associations, the events are scheduled for 6 p.m. on February 5 at Roscoe school and 6 p.m. on February 6 at Livingston Manor school.  

The seven candidates receiving the greatest number of votes will be elected. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes will serve the longest initial terms, with terms to run as follows to allow for future staggered election of members:

• Top three vote getters will serve through June 30, 2028

• The next two will serve through June 30, 2027

• The last two will serve through June 30, 2026

After the initial three years, board members will serve full three-year terms starting the July 1 following their election.

The new district board members will begin their terms on Feb. 18, where they will be sworn in during the organizational meeting of the board. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and be held at Livingston Manor school.

The new board will determine all aspects of operations and policies of the new district.  Some of the work to be done before July 1 includes deciding on an official school district name, school colors, mascot, building names, building use and configuration, officially appointing attorneys, architects, banks, newspaper, auditors, insurance providers, school officers and school staff and approving transportation contracts.

The Sullivan County Democrat will be running a Meet The Candidates section in their Friday, February 7 edition.

Submissions should be no more than 300 words in length and a photo is welcome. All submissions should be send to publisher@sc-democrat.com by February 4.