For more information on running for the Board of Education, please contact the District Clerk at 845-279-8000 x 6121.  Candidates for the Board of Education must file a petition with the District Clerk thirty (30) days before the election. Board of Education candidates must meet the following criteria: 

• must be able to read and write;
• must be a qualified voter of the district; that is, a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age or older, and not adjudged to be an incompetent; (Note: a convicted felon is barred from running for a seat on a board of education if his or her maximum prison sentence has not expired or if he or she has not been pardoned or discharged from parole)
• must be and have been a resident of the school district for a continuous and uninterrupted period of at least one year immediately prior to election;
• may not have been removed from any school district office within the preceding year;
• may not reside with another member of the same school board as a member of the same family;
• may not be a current employee of the school board at the time (s)he is required to take office; and
• may not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office.

Petitions must be signed by at least 25 qualified district voters or two (2%) percent of the voters who voted in the previous annual election of the members of the board of education, whichever is greater.  

There is no maximum number of individuals who may file nominating petitions to become a member of the BOE.   State law prescribes a lot drawing the day after the deadline for filing petitions in order to determine the candidates’ respective position on the ballot.

For greater insight into the role of a Board member, please visit the NYSSBA website as well as the Brewster Board of Education Handbook on Governance Practice and Protocols which outlines agreed upon practices based on Education Law and Board policy.

A qualified voter:

1. Must be a U.S. citizen.
2. Must be 18 years of age by the date of the election.
3. Must be a resident of Brewster for at least thirty days prior to the election.
4. Must be a registered voter.

OR

If you have registered with the School District’s Board of Registration during the scheduled registration days or in person at the district office any weekday throughout the year except the 5 business days preceding an election, you are entitled to vote in a school district election.

If you have registered with the County Board Of Elections before voting in the school election, you are entitled to vote in a school district election. You do not have to register again to vote in the school district election.

The district removes the registration cards for those who have not voted within the last four (4) years. If you have not voted in a Brewster Central School District election in the last four (4) years, or you are not registered to vote with the County Board of elections, you will not be able to vote on the day of the election.