The struggle to elect a president for School District 21’s Community Education Council (CEC) continues.
At the group’s meeting last week, Yoketing Eng, who held the presidency until his term expired this summer, received five votes. His challenger, Dionne Hastings, received four votes. Both tallies fell short of the six votes required to make an election official.
Members of the council, which advocates for schools in Coney Island and Bensonhurst, vented their frustration at being without a president for the last three months.
“It shouldn’t have come this far. We should have been able to resolve it. This is stagnating our efforts to address issues of importance,” said Julius Bowens.
There were nine CEC members at the meeting. Bowens believes a president would have been elected if all 11 members had been present. (One member was absent and the remaining CEC seat is vacant.)
“We still have one person missing which could have been the deciding vote,” Bowens said.
A city Education Department staffer told the CEC, “Right now, you’re deadlocked. You have to table the election for the next meeting.”
Some council members wanted to hold the election during a special emergency session in the coming weeks. However, there weren’t enough members in agreement. Now, another presidential election is slated for the CEC’s general meeting in October.
Stuart Handman assured residents that the CEC will continue to function whether it has a president or not.
“No matter what the outcome of this and no matter how long it takes to resolve, we will perform as council members,” he said.
Details about the council’s October meeting were unavailable at press time. To remain updated on the election, contact the CEC at 718-714-2503 or e-mail Cec21@schools.nyc.gov.
