Incumbents Carole Mineo, Mark Levinstein and William Walker will once again seek their seats for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District Board of Education alongside new candidates Ray Harvey, Deborah A. Bouley, Letitia Politi, Shadè Burks, Ramiro Burgarelli and Dennis Grant. Candidate elections will take place on Tuesday, May 16. A public hearing on the adopted $335.4 million district budget will take place on Tuesday, May 9 at the central office building on Grand Street.

For this year’s upcoming election three seats were made available with Mineo, Levinstein and Walker’s terms expiring. A fourth seat became available when board member Ramona Burton resigned from her seat. Three seats will be for a three year term and the other seat will be for a one year term.

Carole Mineo
Incumbent Carole Mineo did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this story.
Mineo currently serves as the acting Board of Education President. Mineo joined the board in 2014 and assumed the role as president in 2015.

Mineo’s education background includes a Bachelor of Arts from SUNY New Paltz in Secondary Education. She also received a Spanish Masters of Science degree from New Paltz and a Certificate of Advanced Studies also from New Paltz in Educational Administration. Mineo’s career included a total of 33 years with the Newburgh district, former principal of Gidney Avenue Memorial School, former principal of West Street School, Director of Foreign Language & Bilingual Education and Director of Special Projects and Poughkeepsie High School School Improvement Manager for the Poughkeepsie City School District. She was also the Superintendent’s Hearing Officer in the Middletown School District. Within the district she has served as the chair of the Buildings & Grounds and Diversity Committees and also as a member of the Policy Committee.

Mark Levinstein
Incumbent Mark Levinstein will seek another three year term for the Newburgh Board of Education. “I am ready. I know the work involved. And I know the time involved, being on the board, sometimes people don’t realize how much is involved and what can and can’t be done,” said Levinstein.

A 30 year resident of the district, Levinstein and his wife Sharon have raised four children that have all gone on to attend and graduate from Newburgh schools and graduate or near completion of their college educations. Levinstein completed his associates degree from Orange County Community College. Within the district, Levinstein has served on the district finance, facilities, personnel, curriculum, building & grounds, exceptional learners, diversity, library, & compact committee, Capitol Bond Project Advisory and the Newburgh Teacher Center Policy Board. Levinstein is also an appointed Temple Beth Jacob Trustee and Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County Trustee.

Levinstein’s priorities included ensuring student and staff safety and security district wide and work towards preparing students for graduation. Levinstein would also like to work towards more parent involvement and engagement for the district and further work to keep the public informed within the board’s ability. For Levinstein, several district highlights include in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the district was already able to provide students all across the district with Chromebooks to use for online learning as they had already begun to do so. In addition, the P-Tech program has also provided students the opportunity to pursue associate degrees and other college credits prior to graduation.

William Walker
A former educator and current member of the Newburgh Board of Education, William Walker will seek re-election for another three year term following six years of service. Originally from Ohio, Walker has worked as an educator both in Newburgh and Teaneck, NJ and has also had experience within the journalism field. Walker has over four decades of experience in teaching and has been retired for a decade already.

Within the Newburgh district, Walker and his wife have raised two children who have since graduated from the Newburgh schools and they now have three grandchildren. Several district committees that Walker serves on within the district included the library, personnel, audit and finance, policy and SAVE.

“If I could achieve any one educational accomplishment while serving as a Board of Education member, it would be the development of a curriculum that reflected the needs, development and expansion that would make our district a model for the nation,” said Walker. “The Board of Education’s top priorities are to implement district wide strategies designed to close any educational gaps created by COVID, develop curricula and educational strategies that are time-tested, encourage investigation, communication skills and build a platform for life-long learning.”

Ray Harvey

Born in North Carolina, Ray Harvey came from a large family but as a youth, he had an unclear path on what he wanted to do in life. Through an intervention by one of his teachers, Harvey went on to join the military in 1976. From 1976 to 1983 Harvey served in the United States Army and achieved the rank of E-4 [Army Specialist]. He went on to attend and graduated from the American Preparatory Institute. In 1982, Harvey moved to the City of Newburgh where he and his wife Sonia have raised several children both here in the city and in Virginia. In the community, Harvey serves as the current NAACP President of the Newburgh/Highland Falls chapter, he is a member of Congressman Pat Ryan Veterans Affairs Committee, a member of Community Voices Heard, a member of the Executive Order 203 Committee (Police Reform) and a member of the Newburgh Parents Alliance.

Now set on retiring after 20 years working for the federal government, Harvey shared that he feels that this is the right time to run and become more involved in the district. This will also be Harvey’s first official bid for a seat on the board. “I feel good, but it’s also a scary time because this is the first time I ever ran for elected position,” said Harvey. “I’m truly here for the kids.”

Deborah A. Bouley
First time candidate Deborah A. Bouley will be seeking a seat for the Board of Education for the Newburgh district. Bouley will be running for the board alongside additional first time candidates Letitia Politi and Ramiro “Ray” Burgarelli. Bouley has lived within the district for the past 33 years and retired from the district as an educator on June 1, 2022. Bouley has also sent her two children to Newburgh schools and both have since graduated. Bouley’s educational background includes a Master’s Degree in Education and English, a Bachelors of Business Administration in Management and an Associate of Science degree in Business Administration.

For Bouley, she shared that the board of education’s priorities should be focused on maintaining fiscal transparency, especially during the budget process, ensuring equal educational opportunities for all students, safe spaces for students and teachers, maintain honest and open relationships with parents, hold the superintendent accountable and to the highest standard, ensure special education students are placed in the appropriate educational settings and data collection leading to district based decisions is reflected correctly. If elected to the board this year, Bouley would work to address student education requirements and chronic absenteeism. As an educator during COVID, the district had to endure academic online instruction which made it difficult to teach.

Bouley says she was concerned about making sure students are up to par with their current grade academic standards in order to graduate and also would want to see more accurate data on student referrals. As a new candidate to this year’s pool of candidates, Bouley is prepared for what lies ahead.

“I will listen. I’m an excellent decision maker. I work extremely well under pressure. My heart is with every student. I advocate for students and sometimes the priorities are different for other people.” said Bouley. “Some students who have no voice need someone to give them that voice. And I can do that, I want to do that. I want to have their back. And as far as parents, I want to help them be the best that they can be in whatever capacity.”

Letitia Politi
First time candidate Letitia Politi, a lifelong Newburgh resident and graduate of Newburgh schools, will be seeking a seat this coming spring for the board. Politi and her husband have raised four children who attend Newburgh schools. Politi shared that she has been active in advocating and speaking for the students of the district whether it be due to school closures, program cuts or administrator changes. Politi has been a teacher for 18 years in the North Rockland Central School District and was a teacher for 3 years in the Newburgh district.

For Politi she believes that there is a division between the school district and the greater district community and for her, if elected, she hopes to bring everyone together at the table for the benefit of the children of the district. “I think that we have the ability to make change at this time. I think that you have some change makers who got voted in last year, and I bring to the table a specific skill set. I’m a teacher, I’m a certified administrator, I have a pretty good background and understanding of how school districts work and what’s feasible and what’s not feasible,” said Politi.

As one of the largest districts in the region, transparency and communication have also been priorities for Politi that she hopes to address. “I believe in shared decision making,” said Politi.

“I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Newburgh school district being a product of it myself. I’m just trying to be one of those good people trying to help,” said Politi. “We all have a voice and we all need to be heard and I’m willing to listen to the needs of every stakeholder and do my best if elected to keep everyone’s perspective in my thought process as I go through this, and to make the best decisions based on integrity, and the love of my community.”

Shadè Burks
A lifelong resident of the Newburgh and New Windsor area and first time candidate, Shadè Burks is a graduate of the Newburgh school district and now currently has a young son who attends. Burks’s professional background includes 13 years in the Human Services field and has helped as a teaching assistant at Head Start of Eastern Orange County. Burks will also be seeking certification to become a teacher at the school she works at and will be looking to return to school to pursue a career as a special education teacher. Burks also serves as member and Vice President of the Newburgh Parent Alliance and has been actively involved in the board meetings, sharing her words and advocating before the board. For Burks, as a first time candidate, she shared that this pursuit of a board seat has been motivated by her advocacy mission for her son who she disclosed has ADHD. “I understand the challenges that you can face when trying to get access to special education services for your child,” said Burks. “My son is what motivated me and my fight for my son is what motivated me because I know there are parents out there dealing with the same issues that I’m dealing with and I want to let them know that they have a voice. Let’s stop focusing on disabilities and start focusing on abilities in our children.”

As a future board member, Burks would look to advocate more accessibility to special education services for the students, cultural diversity and representation especially when it comes to students and teachers, consistent communication with parents for advocacy programs and an increase in trade career support.

“I am grateful to have a possible chance to be seated on the board. I will be seated amongst veterans whom have put policies in place to help aid our children in having a successful educational journey,” said Burks. “As I learn from them I plan to bring new ideas to the table that will further assist scholars with the educational endeavors.”

Ramiro “Ray” Burgarelli
A first time candidate for the district, Ray Burgarelli has decided to run for the board of education following his retirement from the police force. Burgarelli previously served as a New York City Police Officer and served in the United States Marine Corps. He and his wife have raised two children who attend schools within the district. Like many parents, they managed through the COVID pandemic with their children and helped them through several years of online instruction.

With over two decades of background experience in security, school security and safety became an immediate priority that Burgarelli would look to address if elected. Like many other children and parents, he was present on the night of the Newburgh Free Academy football shooting and had been with his son.

Furthermore, he would look to pursue more communication with the district and authorities to maintain security all around and to uphold transparency when informing the public about topics of concern or overall district needs whenever presented. “We’re elected by the people of the district, to provide for their needs,” said Burgarelli.

If elected, Burgarelli would work to ensure student assistance and opportunities with classes to be a successful graduate. “It’s amazing the breadth of career paths that these kids can pick right now, and earn so many college credits so early,” said Burgarelli. “You want to make sure your kids have every single possible opportunity they can.”

For Burgarelli, his wife and family have been supportive of the decision when announced to run for this elected position, and now Burgarelli looks forward to the election process and ultimately voting day. “I really love to talk to people, whether they be teachers, guidance counselors, parents, the kids, and find out what are the things that they want, what are the roadblocks and I really envision myself, if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, to really try to open with communication paths,” said Burgarelli.

Dennis Grant
A 20 year resident of the district, first time candidate Dennis Grant and his wife Sonya have raised their three children here in the Newburgh area and all have gone on to attend Newburgh schools and graduate. Grant also served on the Balmville Elementary Parent Teacher Association when his children had attended. Grant is also the son of a retired educator, his mother. Grant currently works as a New York City Corrections Officer and graduated from North Carolina Central University with an accounting degree in 1994.

Within the community, Grant has been involved with Strategic Economic Development Advisory Committee (SEDAC), the Harriet Tubman statue to the Newburgh Library Committee, former president and scholarship committee chairman of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.- Upsilon Tau Chapter, former president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Mid-Hudson Valley, and planning committee member and volunteer of the Safe Harbors of The Hudson Newburgh Community Cleanup.

“I want to fundamentally shift the direction of where we’re going as a school system,” said Grant. “I don’t have an agenda outside of making sure that the kids are getting what they are supposed to get. My aim will be to discuss and vote on educational policy to support students to become tomorrow’s leaders.”