Dr. Julio Urbina plans to run for full term in May
With the Eastchester School District filling its board vacancy  at the most recent board meeting last week, the Tuckahoe Board of Education, with its own rare opening on the board, decided to follow suit. Tuckahoe announced its appointment of Dr. Julio Urbina to serve on the board until the May 18 elections.

Urbina will be officially installed at the next regular Tuckahoe School Board meeting on Feb. 22, filling the unexpired seat left by board Vice President Rev. Frank Coleman. Coleman left Jan. 1 to take a position at a parish in Virginia.

While other recent temporary appointees on the Eastchester School Board and Tuckahoe Village Board have been vague about their future plans, Urbina stated directly that he does plan to run for a full three-year term in May.

Urbina, one of two candidates who expressed interest in the vacancy and went through the interview process, was selected through a consensus of the board in an executive session on the evening of the Jan. 25 public meeting.

“I was certainly flattered and honored that the work I have been doing…was recognized,” said Urbina of his appointment.

“I think Dr. Urbina is an extremely knowledgeable person,” said Dr. Michael Yazurlo, Tuckahoe superintendent of schools. “I think he’s a man who sees the bigger picture…a man who has the best interest of all children at heart and will work towards achieving that.”

Tuckahoe Board of Education President Anthony Buonocore expressed that he has been impressed with Urbina’s recent involvement in the business of Tuckahoe schools. “I’ve worked a lot with him lately,” said Buonocore.  “He’s going to bring a lot to the table.”

A primary reason for the appointment of Urbina, who has children in the first and sixth grades at W.E. Cottle Elementary and Tuckahoe Middle schools, respectively, was his work to create the district’s innovations committee about a year ago.

The innovations committee, which is made up of interested residents and looks at ways to increase revenue, cut expenses and, as Urbina put it, “market the value” of the school system, has garnered significant praise from the district leadership.

“I think the committee helps you to see things from a different perspective,” said Yazurlo. “It helped open avenues of discussion, and avenues of discussion are always positive.”

Urbina, whose field is hospital administration, currently works for the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, a private Manhattan-based foundation that disperses grants to promote healthy aging.

Yazurlo cited Urbina’s familiarity with grants and how to obtain them as another strong point in the appointee’s resume, particularly as the school system begins a new budget cycle in which outside revenue sources will be crucial to keeping the budget numbers low.

Urbina, who said that he was already planning to run for school board in May when he heard about the board vacancy, anticipates that the four months he will serve on the board prior to the election will help to demonstrate his qualifications to voters.

Even if he is not elected to a full term, Urbina said, “It’s certainly not going to stop my desire to make sure we have a sustainable budget and a sustainable school district.”

Ubrina’s seat, along with the seat held by President Buonocore come up for re-election this May. Buonocore has served on the board for 12 years with his youngest child having graduated out of the school system four years ago; he said he has yet to decide whether he will be participating in the upcoming election.