Your Letters: In Support of the SBNC Slate

Here are letters in support of Omer Wiczyk and Kevin Ziegler for Scarsdale School Board. The election is on May 19, 2026.

(From Jennifer Kahan)

Dear Neighbor,

I write to enthusiastically endorse the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) selected candidates, Kevin Ziegler and Omer Wiczyk and I encourage you to vote for them on Tuesday, May 19 at SMS from 7am-9 pm. I urge you to take this election seriously.

The SBNC is a community-elected, nonpartisan, 30-person Committee representing each of our five elementary school neighborhoods, that has an important and respected 96-year-old history in Scarsdale. I currently have the honor to serve on this committee.

Scarsdale voters have a history of supporting SBNC’s nominated Board of Education candidates because this system prioritizes qualifications, temperament, and a commitment to community over politics or popularity.

When I joined the SBNC this year, I took on my role with integrity and focus. The SBNC utilizes guidelines recommended by the NYS School Boards Association (NYSSBA) in assessing candidates, as well as reviewing the current composition of the Scarsdale BOE. The SBNC undertakes a detailed and thorough vetting process of all candidates who run before our committee, and partake in extensive due diligence interviews with references as well as listen to candidate presentations and their answering of questions.

A review of our current Board indicated a need for greater diversity of professional and civic skill sets, and community representation. A vote for Kevin and Omer collectively ensures that the Board will be gaining two Scarsdale parents with combined civic and professional expertise in the fields of law, finance, corporate executive leadership, public relations, civil rights, athletics, communications, negotiations and grant allocation. These are vital gains for our Board, especially now.

Kevin holds an MBA and as a Corporate Executive, currently oversees a global team across multiple offices and is accountable for high-stakes negotiations with substantial value. Prior to this, Kevin worked for a decade in public relations, including in roles in media and crisis management. Kevin also has extensive civic board experience. He served for five years on an appointed committee for the allocation of millions of dollars annually of federal grant dollars to a combination of community agencies and infrastructure priorities.

Omer has practiced law dedicated to the public sector for the past 20 years as a prosecutor in New York City and now at the Brandeis Law Center, which focuses on education and civil rights. Omer has been active in the community, serving as Chair of the Citizens’ Nominating Committee and as President of the Scarsdale Forum. Much of his work has been in group settings—bringing people together, hearing different perspectives, and building consensus. He would be the only attorney on the board once Jim Dugan’s term expires next year.

Given Kevin and Omer’s credentials and the extensive SBNC vetting and nomination process they both went through, I strongly endorse their candidacy and hope that you will join me in voting for them.

Jennifer Kahan
54 Butler Road

(From Toby Milstein-Schulman)

To the Editor,

Scarsdale’s civic tradition has long emphasized thoughtful, nonpartisan leadership grounded in judgment, public service, and a commitment to the broader good. The School Board Nominating Committee process is not incidental to that tradition—it is central to preserving it. For more than half a century, since its governing structure was first established in 1965, the SBNC has provided a deliberate, community-driven process to identify and vet Board of Education candidates based on their qualifications, judgement and readiness to serve the entire community.

That standard matters. The SBNC’s role is not simply to fill seats, but to evaluate who has the judgment, temperament, and wide-ranging experience to govern well on behalf of the entire district. The Committee’s own process asks candidates to demonstrate not only why they seek to serve but also what qualities, civic experience, and past judgment prepare them to contribute effectively to the work of the Board.

The SBNC is not a closed body appointing its successors. It is a representative committee elected by all of us Scarsdale residents, with members chosen by voters from each elementary school district. Those members are our neighbors, selected by the community to do the hard work most voters cannot realistically do alone: recruit broadly, interview meticulously, deliberate extensively, and seriously assess which candidates have what it takes to represent us on the Board of Education.

And importantly, the SBNC does not decide the election. It recommends a slate. Voters still decide whether those candidates earn their support.

What the SBNC provides is the benefit of a serious, structured, community-based vetting process before that vote is cast. It is one of the few remaining civic mechanisms designed not simply to reward visibility or past volunteerism, but to assess who is best prepared to govern this particular board at this particular moment.

Kevin Ziegler and Omer Wiczyk emerged from a thorough vetting process as candidates with complementary backgrounds, deep commitment and experience with Scarsdale schools, and the ability to work collaboratively with fellow Board members and district administration in service of students and families. They also bring the qualities the SBNC process is meant to surface. They understand that effective school board leadership requires listening before reacting, balancing competing priorities, and making decisions not for applause or ideology, but for the long-term health of the district and the continued excellence of Scarsdale’s schools.

On a personal level, I have seen both Kevin and Omer as kind, thoughtful, and deeply considerate parents, as well as generous volunteers in the life of this community. Those qualities matter not because they are valid personal virtues alone, but because they reinforce the judgment, character, and sense of responsibility that public service demands.

This election is an opportunity to affirm two exceptional candidates based on their valuable experience and strong character, and at the same time, the enduring civic process that produced them. I am voting the SBNC slate because it produced two candidates that only strengthen my trust in the process Scarsdale has built—and sustained—for decades.

This is why I am voting for Kevin Ziegler and Omer Wiczyk on May 19th at Scarsdale Middle School.

Toby Milstein-Schulman