Port Washington community leader Jessica Melwani is running unopposed alongside incumbent trustee Deborah Brooks for the Port Washington Board of Education trustee election May 20.
Brooks and Melwani are vying for two three-year trustee seats on the school district’s Board of Education, while incumbent trustee Emily Beys will be stepping down from the board after four three-year terms.
Running for the school board for the first time, Melwani said she plans to bring her professional background in publishing and journalism, along with her experience on the Manorhaven PTA, Port Washington Parents’ Council, and the Ed Foundation, to the position if elected.
“I am comfortable with the complexities of governance and will put in the time and effort that strong oversight and policymaking requires,” Melwani said on her campaign website.
After moving back home to Port Washington in 2015, Melwani has served as the co-president of the Manorhaven PTA, where she helped organize fund-raising initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented the first building-level initiative aimed at increasing connection and belonging among students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
As co-president and now vice president of outreach at the Port Washington Parents’ Council, Melwani said among her accomplishments are implementing a district-wide pre-K and elementary toy drive and creating the PW Community Outreach Roundtable, where parent organizations, local outreach providers and school district personnel discuss how to improve the lives of Port Washington families in a monthly forum.
Melwani also said she has helped parents financially through the PW Angel Network, an initiative of the Parents’ Council that assists families with specific financial needs, such as funding school supplies.
During the 2023-2024 school year, Melwani also said she led an effort to secure district-funded school supplies, which reduced the cost per family for supplies from $75 to $20 per student.
Outside of her experience in the Port Washington School District, Melwani has degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities and has worked in the publishing and journalism industries for over 20 years.
Brooks will be running for a third term as trustee. In her six years on the board, Brooks said she will continue to ensure that the state and federal governments do not overstep their roles in determining curriculum and will continue to monitor federal funding, which she noted is currently in good shape.
“The reason that I have kept going all this time, foundationally, is my very strong belief in our public schools here in Port Washington and the public school system in general,” Brooks said.
Before moving to Port Washington, Brooks worked as a public defender for young people in Baltimore, where she developed a passion for addressing structural inequity. Brooks said she has taken this mission to her work on the Port Washington School Board and its policy committee, noting that she considers inclusion and equity when creating district policy.
Beys, who has served on the board for four terms, said the role has been fulfilling and that her decision not to seek re-election was due to personal obligations and commitments outside of her trustee role that she wants to dedicate more time to.
“It’s been an honor, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have served,” Beys said.
Voting for the Port Washington Board of Education trustee’s election and school budget vote will take place at Weber Middle School from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20.
