Races for school board shifting into high gear

The race is one of the most active in recent memory, with seven of the board’s nine seats up for grabs. That includes the voting position held by the mayor, with incumbent David Cohen not running for reelection.

“I think everybody’s working very hard,’’ said Claire Sokoloff, who is running for her third term. “I would never take an election for granted.’’

The candidates will tape one-on-one debates, sponsored by the League of Women voters, today at the city’s local cable station. On Tuesday, starting at 6:45 p.m., the candidates will face off in a series of short debates sponsored by the Ward 6 Democratic Committee. The election is Nov. 3.

Three of the races feature incumbents facing challengers. And in addition to the mayor’s chair, three of the seats are open because incumbent committee members either decided not to run or were term limited.

The newcomers all are urging change in one form or another, from how the district deals with its aging school buildings to the way it teaches math. One race features the top two fund-raisers in the school committee races. And another pits the top vote-getter in the city’s preliminary election against a controversial former local columnist.

The candidates have been handing out fliers and postcards, crisscrossing the city to meet voters, and planting lawn signs in any yards that will have them.

Sokoloff and fellow incumbents Reenie Murphy and Jonathan Yeo are being challenged for their seats by newcomers.

The race hasn’t seen any public polling, and it’s difficult to say how much danger the incumbents are in of losing their seats. But their opponents have all been raising money and campaigning actively, and the incumbents are doing the same.

“I think everyone’s running strong campaigns across the city,’’ Yeo said. “I don’t see very many half-hearted campaigns anywhere.’’

Olivia Mathews, Sokoloff’s opponent, is campaigning on her experience as a former teacher and assistant principal.

“A school committee makes education policy decisions, so there should be at least one person on the committee who is an educator, and that’s what I’m offering,’’ Mathews said.

With so much turnover guaranteed as three members plus the mayor leave the board, Sokoloff said the incumbents represent much-needed stability.

“I believe we need to balance the new - and I’m excited about the new members coming on - with the experience and the energy and enthusiasm of members who have a depth of understanding about how a school committee operates and how a school system operates,’’ she said.

Murphy echoed Sokoloff’s thoughts, saying stability is important. “We have a lot of projects that are a couple of years in the making,’’ she said, pointing to a search for a new superintendent, and a reevaluation of a food services division that loses around $1 million a year, among other projects. “Without the knowledge base, you’re going to lose momentum.’’

Margaret Albright is challenging Murphy, and Daniel Proskauer is taking on Yeo. The three challengers have said they’re not running as a slate, but they all have the support of committee member Geoff Epstein, who is running unopposed.

Epstein, who has frequently found himself at odds with other members of the board, has not formally endorsed any of the three challengers, but he has had high praise for each of them and has donated to their campaigns.

Epstein also sent out a mass e-mail last week accusing Murphy of “covert campaigning’’ after she e-mailed an official School Committee newsletter to around 1,800 subscribers on her personal address list. Epstein later said he meant to send his e-mail to only one person, but that it is still a “bad practice’’ to use one member’s name or personal e-mail address to send the newsletter.

“It’s like having a yard sign out,’’ he said. “A name drives past you in your e-mail inbox. It’s not good. It makes me feel uneasy.’’

Murphy said she has sent the newsletter for nearly two years. She said she is open to the idea of sending it out under a general School Committee address but that she wasn’t acting as a candidate when she e-mailed it.

“I wasn’t wearing my campaign hat,’’ Murphy said. “I was wearing my School Committee hat. My idea was to get the information out about the superintendent search.’’

School Committee chairman Marc Laredo, who is supporting the incumbents in the race, said Epstein’s accusation about covert campaigning was “incredibly offensive and completely wrong.

“It’s remarkable that Geoff is complaining about something that he’s been aware of for a year and a half and never found fault with before,’’ Laredo said.

Albright, Mathews, and Proskauer have all criticized the School Committee for its approach to the use of data in decision making, long-term facilities planning, and elementary and middle-school math.

“I do think we need to reevaluate the math curriculum,’’ said Mathews, a former assistant principal in Cambridge. “I do think we need more data-driven decision making.’’

“I’m used to much more measurement and evaluation than I ever see’’ with the School Committee, said Albright, a grant-writing consultant.

Sokoloff said that the School Committee has already asked Interim Superintendent V. James Marini to evaluate the math program, and that she is “very on board’’ with the review.

Yeo said he also supported the review. “It’s a big deal to change curriculum,’’ he said. “It’s not something you snap your fingers and do.’’

Describing Yeo as “non-confrontational,’’ Proskauer said he couldn’t “figure out what he has actually done’’ on the board.

Yeo sharply disputed the characterization. “I’ve tried to make it clear that I have an independent voice on the committee and that I work well with all of my colleagues on the committee,’’ he said.

Epstein has lent his outward support to Steve Siegel, who began running for Susan Heyman’s seat before Heyman decided not to run for reelection. Siegel, who owns a structural engineering firm, is running on a platform that includes attracting high-quality teachers and improving school buildings. His opponent, pharmaceutical manager Susan Rosenbaum, has called for expanding community outreach and has also emphasized teacher quality.

Epstein has also openly endorsed Matt Hills, the money leader in the School Committee race. Hills brought in $17,004 from Jan. 1 to Aug. 28. His opponent, Sue Flicop, was second among School Committee candidates in fund-raising with $9,125 during that time period.

Hills, a partner in a private equity and venture capital firm, has emphasized his financial expertise. Flicop, a local activist and school volunteer, has focused on her knowledge of the schools.

“I think I bring an approach to issues and a set of career experiences that would be very additive to the School Committee,’’ Hills said.

“I have strong analytical skills, but I also have a sort of ground level knowledge of the schools,’’ Flicop said. “I spend a lot of time volunteering in them, and I’ve seen how they work day to day.’’

Only the Ward 8 race had more than two candidates, prompting a preliminary election to narrow the field. Margie Ross Decter, a business consultant, led that contest with 48.3 percent of the vote. Her 5,924 votes were the most anyone in the city received in the preliminary election, including in the mayor’s race. Tom Mountain, a former columnist for the Newton Tab, came in second with 23.8 percent of the vote.

Ross Decter had called for expanding partnerships with local colleges and using surveys and town-hall forums to communicate with the community. Mountain has called for a number of controversial changes to the school system, including phasing out local participation in the Metco voluntary school integration program, reducing the number of children being diagnosed with learning disabilities, and modifying social studies instruction that he says focuses too heavily on multiculturalism.

The School Committee is made up of eight representatives from the city’s wards, but the positions are all elected citywide, meaning that any Newton voter can cast a ballot in all of the contests.

Calvin Hennick can be e-mailed at calvinhennick@yahoo.com.

Correction: Because of an editing error, a story last Sunday incorrectly described the way Newton School Committee member Reenie Murphy distributed a School Committee newsletter. Murphy sent it from her personal e-mail address to recipients who self-subscribe to a list that is hosted by the School Committee.