New November School Board elections in Buffalo met with just one contested race

But while six seats are up for election, only one district has a contested race.

State legislation passed in 2019 has gone into effect: Buffalo's School Board elections have moved from May to November to coincide with the general election. It's a change that was pushed for more than a decade by myriad local advocates, from Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes to parent advocate Sam Radford, as an attempt to increase voter turnout, which The News reported has previously been between 5% and 14% from 2005 to 2019.  

The seats of all six district representatives, who serve on the board alongside three at-large members, are up for re-election this year. That could have prompted a sea change on a board tasked with representing the district, making policy decisions and overseeing the Buffalo schools superintendent.

But only one of those seats is being contested. On the ballot for West District residents, incumbent Jennifer Mecozzi seeks her third term but faces challenges from Le'Candice Durham and Mustafa Abdo. Only West District residents can vote in this race.

School Board members have expressed surprise at the lack of contested races. One obstacle facing challengers had been the number of signatures required to run, which was 500 for district seats and 1,000 for at-large seats. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation in August to reduce the number of signatures to 200 for district seats and 400 for at-large seats.

Louis Petrucci, the board's president since July 2021, said prospective challengers may have been dissuaded by the time commitment required for the position and the complex issues the district faces. 

"Across the nation, we see school boards at the center of the culture wars in our country from vaccines to single-family zoning to what subject matters should be taught in the classroom, and that further discourages candidates from wanting to serve," Petrucci said Friday.

Petrucci will step down from representing the Park District, while Hope Jay has opted not to run for re-election in the North District. Terri Schuta is running unopposed to fill Petrucci's district role, while Cindi McEachon does not face a competitor on the North ballot. Sharon Belton-Cottman, Paulette Woods and Kathy Evans Brown are the incumbents running unopposed in the Ferry, Central and East districts, respectively.

With larger races for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and State Senate and Assembly also on New Yorkers' ballots in November, Erie County Board of Elections spokesperson Derek Murphy said he did not want voters to allow school board elections "to get lost in the landscape."

The general election date is Nov. 8, but early voting – from Oct. 29 through Nov. 6 – applies to the School Board race as well, Murphy said. The School Board races are toward the bottom of the ballot and not left-aligned.

School Board terms are five years for at-large members and three years for district seats. Election winners will take their seats in January. Under the previous calendar, elected members would start July 1.