Marcus Claims Board of Education Is Trying To Force Him Out Of Office

By Deanna Del Ciello
Standard Staff

The Lawrence School Board has been riddled with controversy since the bidding on Lawrence’s Number Six School in April when a board member accused fellow members of conflicts of interest and insider trading during the bidding process.

Lawrence School Board Trustee Rabbi Nahum Marcus claims he has been ostracized from the board, while still officially holding his position, since The Standard’s article on his allegations about the bidding process.

“My fellow board members have shut me out,” Marcus said. “There was a board meeting scheduled for this last week and they changed the venue of the meeting and the time to an hour earlier to when I couldn’t go. All they did was send an email. I showed up an hour later, when I was supposed to and the meeting was already over.”

Marcus said he spoke to Trustee David Sussman, Republican candidate for New York State Assembly, when he arrived. According to Marcus, Sussman said nothing important happened at the meeting but that there was an executive session.

“I don’t know if it’s true, I haven’t seen anything official,” Marcus said. Marcus believes that the board discussed during the executive session the hiring of an outside attorney to remove him for the board for what he told The Standard in April.

Dr. Asher Mansdorf, president of the School Board, told The Standard he does not discuss what goes on in executive session and would not comment on the matter.

Sussman confirmed that the meeting time and venue was changed. “I got an email as I believe did everybody else. I can’t comment further than the fact that I received an email.”

Sussman also confirmed that he spoke with Marcus after the meeting and that Marcus told him his computer was broken at the time.