Guest Editorial: A Croton-Harmon school board candidate sets the record straight about her positions on anti-Semitism and the district’s anti-bullying policies.
"We're not interested in rolling back the progress that we've made as a district to support our LGBTQIA+ and other students who are being targeted by the current GOP administration."
By Allison Samuels
Editor’s Note: In a recent Chronicle Editorial, we noted that the campaign for two seats on the Croton-Harmon Board of Education has at times turned negative, with misrepresentations of the positions and political leanings of some of the candidates. This has taken place mostly on village social media groups. Earlier this week, candidate Allison Samuels, on her campaign Facebook page, addressed some of these issues. With her agreement we are republishing her comments here, along with a comment by her fellow candidate, Leslie Pollak.
The Chronicle has also extended an open invitation to the two other known candidates, Theo Oshiro and Will Begeny, to submit statements for publication; so far, they have agreed to a sit down interview with us later in the campaign. While the Chronicle does not endorse candidates, we will report on both information and misinformation as it emerges during election campaigns.
I am the proud co-founder of Croton Parents Against School Antisemitism which was created in Spring 2024 after incidents of antisemitism impacted local students and families. We’ve collected data around this topic and shared it with CHUFSD. PASA believes that antisemitism or hate of any group has no place in our schools. Leslie Pollak is not a founder.
Like the majority of Crotonites, Leslie and I believe that students should be able to be their authentic selves whatever that looks like and they need to be supported. This means that we need to have all of our policies match the legal protections that are available to us at all levels. We're not interested in rolling back the progress that we've made as a district to support our LGBTQIA+ and other students who are being targeted by the current GOP administration. Quite the contrary - we want to strengthen antibullying policies and supporting definitions to allow kids to freely be themselves.
We have not broadly publicized our organization nor shared the names of our hundreds of members given concerns around our families’ safety. The following might be helpful to understanding this decision:
“According to the latest annual State of Antisemitism in America Report released by American Jewish Committee (AJC) on February 12, 2025, online and on social media continue to be the place where American Jews encounter the worsening trend of antisemitism from a variety of sources including white supremacists on the far right and anti-Israel extremists on the far left.
Roughly seven in 10 (69%) Jewish adults report experiencing antisemitism online or on social media – including those who say they have been personally targeted and those who say they have seen or heard antisemitic incidents. This increases to eight in 10 (83%) among young Jewish adults.
Of the U.S. adults who witnessed antisemitism in the past 12 months, the majority (70%) say they saw it online or on social media.”
The point of a definition of antisemitism is to protect Jewish students. Stronger antibullying policies will protect all students. My platform is focused on all kids in the district.
We proposed the IHRA definition [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] because it has been adopted by the USA (under Biden), New York State (under Gov. Hochul), Westchester County (under George Latimer), governmental entities that we believed CHUFSD would need to align with. Yorktown Heights and Chappaqua have also adopted this definition.
Learn more about:
Our BOE platform at www.crotonkidsfirst.com
Croton Parents Against School Antisemitism: https://sites.google.com/view/crotonpasa/home?authuser=0
Candidate Leslie Pollak adds the following comment:
"Allison and I believe that having clear, proactive guidelines and
education around how the school responds to hatred on any level is a
priority. Creating a safe inclusive environment benefits all students,
staff, and faculty and we would love to work together on steps we can
take to ensure that."
Allison Samuels (left) and Leslie Pollak are candidates for seats on the Croton-Harmon school district Board of Education. The election will be held May 20.
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Editor’s Note: The Chronicle welcomes the diverse viewpoints of local residents. We normally publish them uncut, unedited, and in front of the paywall. Guest Editorials can range up to 3000 words. To discuss a possible submission, please contact us at TheCrotonChronicle@gmail.com
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I am still waiting for the Board of Education to finish implementing Title IX. That landmark civil rights legislation was from 1972, and our Board of Education still doesn't have the legally required Policy 0111 "Sexual Harassment Grievances Under Title IX".
I believe Allison and Leslie will implement Title IX protections in their first year on the Board. They are going to create a lot more protections for minorities and kids.
Theo Oshiro had 3 years on the Board and achieved nothing. He talked about minorities but did nothing. Title IX is not completed. No DEI policy - not even a basic anti-discrimination policy. Kept the unconstitutional discrimination against non-citizens, foreign residents, non-immigrant foreigners, and discrimination by visa status. And the NY Education Law §13 (Dignity for All Students Act) known as "DASA" remains only partially implemented. Theo Oshiro achieved no protections in his term, not even the legally mandatory minimums.
Joshua Diamond defended these policies, and his protégé, mini-Josh (Will Begeny), vows to continue Diamond's legacy.
Title IX and DASA have broad cross-party support. Forget the posturing look at what Oshiro and Josh actually failed to do.
There was a post yesterday or the day before on The Croton Point (which of course was immediately shot down by the usual suspects) that compared the platforms of both slates. While the comparison was generated using two separate AI tools, a manual, "using my own eyes" review of both slates confirmed the AI tools' output: Allison and Leslie seek to focus on a reset of Board priorities in favor of educational achievement and excellence, and use concrete examples on how to meet those goals. On the other hand, Theo and Will seek to continue the status quo, and use broad generalities/ideas on how to meet those goals. I think the choice is clear here. CHUFSD has a $54 million annual budget that increases every year and the level of service that it provides when executing against that budget is average, at best. Change is needed, and Allison and Leslie represent that needed change.