John Doerre will serve as president of the Newburgh Board of Education with Mark Levinstein serving as his vice president. Both members were sworn into their offices during a special meeting on February 6.

Four members of the board – including the board president and vice president - abruptly resigned on Friday, Feb. 2. The resigning members included Darren Stridiron, Deborah Bouley, Renee Greene and Jerry Ryan Lamar. The special meeting was called to address the board member vacancies and the vacancies of offices within the board.

District Clerk Matthew McCoy issued the oath of office to Doerre and Levinstein, who then joined Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jackielyn Manning Campbell at the head table. Doerre also took the opportunity to move seats and would now be seated alongside the superintendent, something his predecessor declined to do.

“This is quite an honor,” said Doerre. “It was not anticipated but sometimes circumstances put you in positions that your life is not planning on. I guess I’ll use the word collaborative, something we may have been missing the last few months but we’re going to have a collaborative effort with the goal always, always being the scholars of the district.

“We want to do our best. We have an awful lot of work to do ,we have some catching up to do, but I will tell you this: We’re not in a crisis mode. I don’t panic. I’ve been in many situations worse than this. I don’t panic,” he continued. “I believe Dr. Manning Campbell is one of the best leaders I’ve ever met and I think we’re going to give her an opportunity to lead.”

Superintendent Manning Campbell welcomed the new board president. “I just want to say I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a really long time. I’m looking forward to the collaboration. I’m looking forward to the continued work that we have to do on behalf of our scholars. I’m so excited to have an opportunity to work with all of you and to move forward together,” said Manning Campbell. “Thank you so much Mr. Doerre, Mr. Levinstein, thank you trustees, thank you for your commitment and your dedication.”

With four vacancies to fill on the board, the district is expected to reach out to former school board candidates to see if any of them would be interested in serving until the school board election, scheduled for May 21. Former candidates from last year’s school board election included Ray Harvey, Shadè Burks, Dennis Grant and previous board members Carole Mineo and William Walker.