To the Editor:

We write in strong support of Lisa Martino Alves for trustee of the Pelham Board of Education. In full disclosure, Lisa is our neighbor. We’ve known her since she moved to Pelham in 2022 with her husband, Jorge, and their two boys. Over the past four years, we’ve come to know Lisa as a thoughtful, empathetic, and community-driven neighbor, friend, and mother. She’s the kind of neighbor who brings you cut flowers just because and checks in when you have a new baby. But our support for Lisa is not simply personal. We support her because she offers something the Board needs right now: real public school leadership, fresh perspective, and the courage to ask the right questions at a pivotal moment for our district. We will vote for Lisa on May 19 for three reasons:

First, with all due respect to the current Board’s accomplishments, this moment calls for new ideas, voices, and questions, not continuity.

Although our daughter will not enter Pelham schools until 2030, we have paid close attention to the serious decisions the district is facing, especially the recent issues with aging buildings and infrastructure. We supported modernization efforts, and we still do. But major long-term investments demand more than momentum—they require independent thinking, careful oversight, and a willingness to ask hard questions before decisions become permanent. This is exactly the kind of moment when a board benefits from a new voice, not just more continuity. Lisa will bring the thoughtful scrutiny and forward-looking perspective needed to help ensure this work is done well and in the best interests of students, teachers, families, and taxpayers.

Second, Lisa’s experience as a principal will help her make the best decisions for the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s students.

We, like many others, are thinking seriously about what education will look like in the years ahead. Artificial intelligence is already reshaping classrooms and learning, while troubling reports about declining student outcomes, like the recent New York Times article on “Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a ‘Generation-Long Decline’,” remind us that schools cannot afford to stand still. Lisa confronts these challenges every day in her work as a principal. She listens to parents, supports teachers, studies student performance, and plans for what children will need not just today, but years from now. When we asked about her two decades with the New York City Department of Education, she described work grounded in analyzing outcomes, improving instruction, and making sure tomorrow’s students do not fall behind. Lisa understands both the realities inside schools and the decisions that help future students succeed, and we know she would bring that practical knowledge to the Board from day one.

Third, and most importantly, the current Board will benefit greatly from the addition of an experienced public educator.

Between the two of us, we spent a combined 37 years being educated in public schools and public institutions. Simply put, we believe deeply in public education. That is why we believe the Board would be stronger with the perspective of a lifelong public educator—especially one with experience in similarly situated districts with a clear understanding of how policy decisions affect students, teachers, and families. Board service requires many strengths, but right now the missing perspective is educational leadership from someone who has devoted her career to public schools. In our view, Lisa fills that gap. She would add practical expertise, valuable balance, and a student-centered lens that will help the Board make better decisions for Pelham’s future.

On May 19, we will proudly and enthusiastically vote for Lisa because we believe Pelham needs her experience, her judgment, and her voice on the Board of Education. We hope our neighbors will join us in doing the same.

Tara & Steven Turner

51 Clifford Avenue