It’s Asher versus Asher for Lawrence school board

In addition to the budget vote on Tuesday, May 20, residents in Lawrence School District can cast ballots in the race between incumbent Board of Education Trustee Asher Mansdorf and challenger Asher Matathias. Sitting Trustee Murray Forman is running unopposed. All terms are three years.

Mansdorf, 61, is running for his fifth term. His main incentive for running again, he said, is to continue working to help make the school district what Mansdorf called “a community of learners” and not just viewing the district as a “community of voters.”

“I feel I have not only talked the talk, I have walked the walk,” he said. “I have put my heart and soul into this, and been in the schools almost every single day.”

District programs such as pre-kindergarten and after-school classes have been geared to not only help children, but to get parents involved in their education, according to Mansdorf, who said under Superintendent Gary Schall’s leadership, the district has reached out to the Spanish-speaking community and worked to improve communication.

Mansdorf stressed the fiscal health of the district, guidance provided to administrators and working with local legislators to ensure that Lawrence receives its fair share of state money. He wants to use the Number Six School sale money for capital improvements.

Matathias, 70, is calling for improvements ranging from increased transparency and public comment at board meetings to shifting to an at-large vote for trustee seats to “eliminate artificial animosity in District 14.”

“We need a new way of looking at problems and resolve them,” he said. “Public comment means public comment. [The board] should be encouraging not discouraging open public comment.”

His platform also calls for voting “yes” on the library budget but “no” on the school budget, attention to the needs of immigrants, reviewing what he called the district’s “irreversible” decline, and “exploring consolidation/absorption by a neighboring district (s).”

The attention to immigrant needs would include a mentorship program, where students would take a peer under their wing to help guide them through school. Matathias is also calling for anti-bullying initiatives for children and adults, what he called a “responsible contract for administrative personnel” and improved student achievement and graduation rates.