Hempstead school board revote results: Gwendolyn Jackson is the top vote-getter

The second-highest vote-getter in the May election for the Hempstead school board decisively won in a revote, defeating an incumbent who was initially declared the winner three months ago and two other opponents, according to results certified by the school board Monday night.

Gwendolyn Jackson, 73, received 255 votes on Monday. Eugenia Girtman came in second with 161 votes. Victor Pratt, an incumbent whose term ended June 30, garnered 48 votes. Caprice Rines received 17 votes.

The vote count was finished around 10 p.m. Monday, an hour after polls closed.

Jackson was sworn in Monday night, according to a district spokeswoman. Her term commenced on Monday and ends on June 30, 2029.

Jackson, who served on the board from 2015 to 2018, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Monday. In a previous interview, she said she had worked as a teacher of the deaf for Nassau BOCES and now works part time for a Brooklyn-based agency that provides early intervention programs for children from birth to age 3.

Previous winner reacts

Pratt, 54, said Monday night that he did not vote, did not campaign and had no interest in the revote or its result. He did not know the election result until a Newsday reporter reached him by phone. He said he was “done” with the board.

“In the first election, after the outcome was announced, that's not what was wanted so they did what they did and they had it nullified,” he said. “I was not wanted on the board so it makes no sense for me to strive to be on the board.”

Pratt won the May 19 election, but the results were disputed. Monday’s revote was ordered by the state Education Department commissioner after the Hempstead school board in June appealed the results of that election, alleging the district clerk in charge of the voting process worked to help Pratt, her favored candidate, win his reelection bid.

Pratt and the clerk, April Keys, have denied the allegations through their attorneys.

Rines, 58, said she was disappointed by Monday's low turnout for a district that serves more than 5,000 students. She also expressed frustration with the revote process, during which she said candidates could not offer any input.

“It's a travesty that it's such a low turnout,” she said. “I'm just very disappointed that we didn't have any input as the candidates. And I just feel like we were disrespected. And I'm heartbroken.”

Girtman, 61, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

Some voters said the revote was a chance to correct what went wrong in the first election.

“Today, it's about making it right,” Clariona Griffith said on her way to vote at the Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School.

School board investigation

Pratt was declared the initial winner of the May 19 election, but a disparity in absentee ballots raised alarm for his fellow trustees. Pratt had received the third-highest number of votes cast via machine ballots, but he pulled ahead after winning significantly more absentee ballots than his opponents.

The board appointed Austin Graff, a school attorney, to investigate. Graff and another attorney later recovered torn, cast ballots in a garbage bag. The ballots in question included support for both Pratt and Jackson, who garnered the second-most votes, according to a report Graff submitted to the board.

In the report, Graff said Keys could not explain how the ballots ended up in the trash.

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation into the allegations.

Griffith, a former Hempstead Village trustee, called the alleged trashing of ballots “shameful." She believes the revote will make clear who voters wanted on the board.

“Bringing the exposure gives us the opportunity now to put the person that we really want there,” she said. “If this never happened, then guess what? We would have never known that our voice was thrown away.”

Another voter, Christine Bush, did not want to comment on the allegations that led to the revote other than saying: “People have to be held accountable.”

Bush on Monday brought her grandson, Adrian Williston, 17, who lives upstate, with her to the voting booth to show him the importance of civic duty.

The grandmother said she felt her children, now adults, received a good education when they attended Hempstead schools, but as a taxpayer, she wanted to see lower taxes and quality programs for the children.

“I need to know, what are you going to do for the children? And what are you also going to do for the taxpayers?” she said. “Every year, the taxes go up, which I understand. But is the money being spent wisely?”

Both Griffith and Bush declined to say who they planned to vote for but noted it was the same candidate they had chosen in May.

Raymond Petit chose someone different.

Petit declined to say which candidate he voted for or specify the reasons for his change of heart other than that he wanted to ensure the tax he pays is used properly.

“They keep increasing our tax,” he said. “I want to make sure what they say [is] what they're going to do.”

School taxes were also prominent on the mind of Regis Inuwa, who said she’s concerned about the taxes and the curriculum. Regardless of who wins, she said she will not stop paying attention.

“Whoever is on the school board, whoever wins, I'll be still monitoring what's going on in our community,” she said.

Griffith said she was confident in the integrity of the special election supervised by Neil Boyle, district superintendent for the Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, who was appointed by the education commissioner.

“I have confidence in this vote because I feel that … everybody's watching,” she said.

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.