Letters in Support of Bob Klein and Amber Yusuf for Scarsdale School Board

Here are letters in support of Bob Klein and Amber Yusuf for Scarsdale School Board:

To the Editor: Bob Klein and Amber Yusuf are two outstanding school board candidates who have been vetted and nominated by the nonpartisan School Board Nominating Committee. They have demonstrated intelligence, integrity, independence, and a steady temperament. As a slate they will bring both experience and a fresh perspective to Scarsdale’s Board of Education.

The SBNC represents you. Look at the member list at scarsdalesbnc.com to judge for yourself. You will find a diverse cross-section of your friends and neighbors reflecting today’s Scarsdale. There are empty nesters and parents of children at every level of the school system, working professionals and full-time caregivers, life-long residents and recent arrivals to Scarsdale and the United States.
As the current Joint Committee and former SBNC chair, I am proud of the SBNC’s diversity of age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and life experience. The SBNC is not some “establishment” seeking to maintain the status quo, but rather a dynamic, independent collection of residents with a variety of perspectives and a shared desire for the highest-functioning school board. After months of fact finding and discussion, they have nominated two excellent community volunteers.

Bob Klein is a creative, analytical former architect, an "empty-nester" with extensive professional experience in long-term, complex planning and problem solving. He is empathetic and action-oriented, having helped found an organization which welcomes, protects, and advocates for refugees. Bob has a demonstrated ability and willingness to think outside the box and ask the questions that lead to better solutions.

Amber Yusuf is a standout Scarsdale volunteer with comprehensive, high-level experience on both the school and village sides, from PT Council to the League of Women Voters to The Acceleration Project. She has professional strategic, financial, and global expertise and is a respected and approachable straight-shooter. Amber possesses the passion and comprehensive knowledge to hit the ground running as a new school board member.

I enthusiastically endorse the SBNC’s composition, process, and nomination of Bob Klein and Amber Yusuf for the Scarsdale School Board.

Jordan Copeland
Woods Lane

Having lived in Scarsdale for more than 40 years, I have appreciated the careful study that the two nominating committees that select candidates for the Village Board and School Board commit to. The committees study the candidates’ skills, experience, history of working constructively with others and so much more. The recent work of the School Board Nominating Committee is no exception. With a number of people applying to be candidates for the School Board, the Committee was able to select Amber Yusuf and Robert Klein to serve us. Being able to choose from multiple applicants based on their characteristics, knowledge and all the other aspects that a group of 30 people have studied and pick the candidates that will serve us best has served us well for years. That’s what makes the work of the Board of Education top notch and that is why I support the SBNC’s candidates.

Dan Hochvert
62 Woods Lane

To the Editor:
It is with great enthusiasm that I endorse Amber Yusuf for Trustee of the Scarsdale Board of Education. I am making this endorsement in my individual capacity and not in my position on the SHS PTA Executive Committee.

I have known Amber and her family for ten years, as my neighbor in the Heathcote School District. In addition, I had the pleasure of working with Amber on the PT Council Executive Committee when she was the President of the Heathcote PTA. Amber has all the qualities one would want in a school board member. Amber is intelligent, thoughtful and deliberative. She is open-minded, a careful listener and a consensus builder. Amber brought a unique perspective of multicultural awareness to our PTC meetings and decision-making process. She has the distinctive ability to view problems through the lens of many stakeholders, a skill that will serve her well on the Board of Education.

Amber is a dedicated volunteer. Her extensive experience within the community, both for the Village and for the schools, allows her the perspective necessary to understand and address the concerns of a broad constituency. Her professional experience in engineering and technology, which includes an MBA, will ensure that she is ready to meet the financial and educational challenges of the Board of Education.

Our School Board Nominating Committee has always selected smart, capable and conscientious Trustees and this year is no exception. Amber is highly qualified to serve our community in this role. I strongly support Amber Yusuf for School Board, without reservation.

Sincerely,
Leanne M. Freda
Palmer Avenue

To the Editor,
I have been a resident of Scarsdale for over 13 years, and I am proud to write in support of Amber Yusuf for election to the Scarsdale School Board. I have known Amber for almost 10 years as my two daughters and her two sons have gone through The Little School, Heathcote School and Scarsdale Middle School, and with Scarsdale High School on the horizon for our eldest children.

I served as the Heathcote PTA President under Amber’s leadership during her term as the 2018-19 PT Council President. Amber had two major district initiatives taking place during her tenure -- the decision for the district to take over the school lunch program for all 7 schools, and the security and safety issue which became very contentious among different factions in the community.

As with any change, the takeover of the school lunch program came with an onslaught of issues from disparity between the schools, to food allergies, to the loss of revenue to the individual PTAs. Amber handled each problem calmly, rationally, politely, and, most important, effectively.

When different community groups were aggressively arguing safety and security issues at the schools, Amber was there to guide all of us as PTA Presidents. The questions of whether security guards and teachers should have guns were at the forefront. In typical Amber style, she had done all the research, understood all sides of the debate, and intelligently helped navigate the issue on behalf of the PTA’s.

Amber is one of the most dedicated volunteers to our schools’ programs I have met in my time here in Scarsdale. She has held the most important parent volunteer positions, as the PT Council President and an elementary school PTA President (Heathcote). These positions come with major responsibilities at the district level with constant interaction with the Superintendent and his cabinet, as well as the school board. Amber fulfilled these responsibilities in a most exemplary manner.

Amber is analytical and intelligent, while also being well liked and respected by all who have worked with her. In addition, she is a good listener and always respectful of others. I can’t think of a better candidate for the Scarsdale School Board. We’ll be lucky to have her!
I support the SBNC slate of Amber Yusuf and Robert Klein.

Kate Eichel
Heathcote Road

To the Editor:

I am writing this letter to show my support for Amber Yusuf’s candidacy for a seat on the Scarsdale School Board of Education.

I had the pleasure of working with Amber Yusuf during the time I was after school clubs co-chair and co-president elect for Edgewood PTA (2017-18) and as PTA co-president for Edgewood (2018-19). Over the course of those years, I attended numerous meetings where I witnessed Amber’s openness and willingness to listen to all thoughts and ideas on various topics. Her willingness to truly do what is best for our Scarsdale schools coupled with her business acumen will allow her to be a major asset on the board.

Amber has been a leader within the Scarsdale Schools PTA ever since she moved here. From class parent, to after school clubs chair, to PTA president, to last year as Parent Teacher Council president (and many roles in between), Amber proves to be passionate in all she does. On top of being a wife, mom to two Scarsdale school children, businesswomen, school leader, she also manages to have time for involvement in community organizations. She has been a member of the Scarsdale Youth Hockey Team and the Citizens Nominating Committee of Scarsdale among other organizations.

Amber embodies all of the qualities to make to an excellent candidate. She has my full confidence in her abilities to continue the extraordinary work of the board. I hope you join me and vote for Amber Yusuf for school board; mail-in ballots are due by 5pm on June 9th.

Sincerely,
Susie Smith
Boulevard

To the Editor:
In March, Amber Yusuf was honored to be nominated for the Scarsdale School Board of Education by the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC), a group of 30 elected individuals from all 5 neighborhoods in Scarsdale. She, along with Bob Klein, hopes to serve the Scarsdale community by maintaining excellence in our schools while balancing our fiscal responsibilities.

They need your support and they certainly have mine!

I have worked closely with Amber for a number of years through PTA efforts in various capacities. I cannot think of anybody more qualified to fill this role for our community.

I am a Fox Meadow resident and have been very active in our FMPTA for 6 consecutive years, serving in a range of volunteer positions from class parent through to one of the VP board positions. In theory, I would not know Amber very well yet through PTC I have worked very closely with Amber and can state emphatically that she is exactly what our BOE needs. I have found her support of all the schools to be exemplary and she brings best practices to us all as well as being open to those we have found successful in our specific elementary school.

Amber is the quintessential person for this type if role: intelligent, thoughtful, fair, able to see situations from multiple perspectives, and most importantly capable of making decisions when there is no "right" answer thus solving challenging situations to further the overall objectives of the school district, students and our community. She is informative, collaborative, and a pleasure to work with to create amazing opportunities and programs for our children.

Jennifer Zola
Carstensen Rd