by Carol P. Bartold

May 21, 2014:  Despite a grassroots campaign for Bronxville Board of Education trustee that advanced write-in candidate Mariellen Carpenter's challenge to Non-Partisan Committee candidate Dr. Mary Giuffra, Bronxville voters affirmed Giuffra with 399 votes and fellow committee candidate Adele Murray with 622 votes. Carpenter's supporters waged an email and word-of-mouth effort that also included a Facebook page supporting her candidacy. Carpenter received 280 votes.

Murray and Giuffra will succeed outgoing trustees Dr. James Hudson and Pierre de Saint Phalle at the July board of education reorganization meeting.

Murray, currently the chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel for Caspian Capital L.P., a long/short credit hedge fund, and a Bronxville resident since 2000, first became interested in the board of education in 2010 when the board proposed budget cuts for the first time. "That was the wake-up call," she said. "I thought I had better understand the financial situation facing the school, the facts, and the overall big picture."

Murray sees maintaining the balance among financial obligations and taxes while continuing to maintain a top-performing school that offers students a broad curriculum as the most significant challenge facing the board. She will bring her experience as a securities attorney in working with budgets, conducting negotiations, and formulating creative solutions to the board.

"One of the things I love about Bronxville," Murray said, "is there are so many people willing to step up and contribute their time and effort. Serving on the board of education is my way of trying to help the community."

Dr. Mary Giuffra, a couples and family psychotherapist in private practice in Bronxville and a former tenured college professor, brings broad experience in education, board development, and strategic planning to the Bronxville Board of Education.

A tenured associate professor in parent/child health and education at New York University and a tenured full professor at the College of Mount St. Vincent, Giuffra has also consulted on curriculum development and evaluation at The University of Alabama, The University of Vermont, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In addition to serving on the board of governors of Lawrence Hospital and as the chair of the Home Nursing Association of Westchester, Giuffra successfully guided the ntegration of the boards of Jansen Memorial Hospice and the Bereavement Center of Westchester into Lawrence Care.

"Change always brings opportunity," Giuffra said, citing changes in leadership at the school and the implementation of the Common Core Curriculum as the most pressing issues the board faces. "With a tremendous amount of change, you need a strategic plan that defines your strengths, where you're going, and how you hope to get there."

Giuffra stated that teachers facing changes in implementing the Common Core need developmental support in dealing with the new curriculum and the methods called for teaching its program of study. "It's very important to support the faculty and to support the parents through these changes," she said.

Bronxville voters approved the school district's $46.2 million budget for the 2014-2015 school year by a vote of 547 in support of the proposition and 108 in opposition to it. Requiring $40.2 million of funding from property taxes, the budget will result in a 1.65 percent property tax levy increase over the 2013-2014 budget. The increase falls within the district's allowable calculated property tax cap of 1.9 percent.

A total of 740 votes plus 98 affidavits were cast in the election. Affidavit votes will be counted when they are verified.

Pictured here (rotating):  Non-Partisan Committee candidates for the Bronxville Board of Education Mary Giuffra and Adele Murray and write-in candidate Mariellen Carpenter.

Photos of Giuffra and Murray by A. Warner