KLSD board candidates come from varied backgrounds

By JEFF MORRIS 

There are five candidates, including two incumbents, vying for three open seats on the Katonah-Lewisboro School District board. Two will assume full three-year terms, while one will fill the remaining term of trustee Jon Poffenberger, who has resigned. 

The candidates are listed here in the order they will appear on the May 19 ballot, which was determined by a random drawing conducted by the district clerk on April 21.

Stacey Isaacson

STACEY ISAACSON

Stacey Isaacson says she has worked within community and education spheres for the past 20 years, as a classroom teacher, a mom-and-pop business owner, and an employee of Northwell, the largest private employer in New York state. This, she says, gives her an entrepreneurial spirit with experience in large bureaucratic organizations, providing breadth and depth of knowledge in both areas.A born and raised New Yorker, Isaacson moved to Katonah in early 2022 with her husband and two children, one of whom is in 11th grade at John Jay High School and one in eighth grade at John Jay Middle School.

In 2011, as a teacher in the New York City Department of Education, she was profiled by the New York Times in a story about teacher evaluations. After leaving New York City for the Hudson Valley, she opened a brick-and-mortar family and community recreation center, Poughkidsie, which earned her three annual “Best of Hudson Valley” awards and inclusion in the Dutchess County “40 Under 40” in 2017. 

With COVID-19 shutting down Poughkidsie, she joined Northwell Health, leading operations of the health system’s Westchester sites for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, and was nominated for Northern Westchester Hospital’s 2022 MLK Jr. Community Hero Award. Isaacson then focused on community health in Northern Westchester, working with community- and faith-based organizations as well as school districts, including KLSD.

Isaacson says her team sought a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to open a public health care high school, and was one of only 10 selected for the grant in the country. She then served as the founding program director for Northwell School of Health Sciences, a Queens school opened in September 2025 in collaboration with NYC Public Schools and Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

“At the core of community is unity,” says Isaacson. “I seek to connect people. Community is about belonging and safety for all. She said education enables opportunities, and learning that offers multiple perspectives and provides equity in access broadens minds.

“School is more than academics,” says Isaacson. “Social-emotional learning and mental health education are at least as important to content measured on exams.”

Lorraine Gallagher

The current president of the Katonah-Lewisboro Board of Education, Lorraine Gallagher was first elected to the board in 2023. She was vice president in 2024–25, and has served on the Audit and Policy committees, as chair of the Lewisboro Elementary School/Shady Lane Evaluation Committee and on the Special Education Empowerment Council.

LORRAINE GALLAGHER

Gallagher has lived in Pound Ridge for 30 years. She says she and her husband raised three children in the district, and they are all proud graduates of John Jay.  

Gallagher has also served as president of the John Jay Booster Club and volunteered in numerous school sports activities over the years. 

Professionally, she was a partner at Wilson Elser, primarily as a products liability defense litigator, for 17 years. For the last 13 years she has been an in-house lawyer at Nice-Pak Products, where she is the associate general counsel.  

“I am running for reelection to the KLSD Board of Education to champion strong public schools and the goals of Vision 2030,” she says. “As a lawyer and current board president, I bring the professional experience needed to navigate complex district challenges. My commitment ensures steady, accountable leadership for every KLSD student.”  

“My vision is simple,” Gallagher says, “to foster a transparent, approachable, and community-driven board that listens to every parent and student voice. Together, we can ensure our schools are not just institutions, but vibrant spaces where every child feels seen and every family feels heard.”

She lists multiple achievements of the school board during her tenure, including hiring Ray Blanch as Superintendent; conducting a districtwide security audit; completing a comprehensive literacy audit; maintaining fiscal discipline without piercing the budget cap; successfully conducting a special education audit, then hiring a new assistant superintendent for special education and director of special education and creating a Special Education Empowerment Council; and working on and developing the Mission/Vision 2030 framework.

“As a board, we have made great strides in improving communication with our community,” Gallagher says. “There is, however, always room for continuous improvement.” She says over the next three years, if reelected, she looks forward to working on championing the high standards of Vision 2030, ensuring every student masters critical literacy skills; advocating for robust special education resources and diverse learning pathways; expanding mental health support and implementing districtwide safety audit recommendations; and maintaining rigorous fiscal discipline that stays within budget caps.

Gallagher said she has helped facilitate steady, responsible progress through professional collaboration and building on past boards’ accomplishments.

Bill Swertfager

First elected to the board in 2023, Bill Swertfager says after three years as a trustee, “I am running again for the KLSD Board of Education because I’ve always been more of a doer than a talker, and I want to finish what we’ve started.”

BILL SWERTFAGER

Swertfager says when he first ran, his goal was to strengthen the district and “ensure every decision put students first.” He now says “we’ve made meaningful progress. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished,  and even more energized by what’s ahead.”

Swertfager lists a plethora of volunteer/community roles, including being a board member of Country Children’s Center for over a decade; Lewisboro Baseball board member and president; Section 1 Wrestling Coaches Association board member-treasurer; coaching basketball, football, soccer, baseball, softball, track and field and wrestling for Town Recreation, Travel and /or High School; being a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader; a platinum member of Arts Alive; serving on John Jay Athletic Council; lifetime member of John Jay Booster Club, and many more.

Professionally, Swertfager is founder and has been owner of AIA Imprint Group for 43 years, a professional coach of wrestling for 45 years, and owner of GHI Construction, rehabbing neglected homes for rental property.

He and his wife are parents of three children, all John Jay graduates.

Swertfager says over the years, parents, faculty, staff, and students have consistently reached out to him with the challenges they face.

“I take those concerns seriously, and I believe in turning them into action,” he says.

He cites many accomplishments of the board during his term, starting off with selecting a new superintendent during his first year; transformation of the special education department during the past two years; a districtwide commitment to the science of reading; working collaboratively with stakeholders across the district to develop the KLSD Vision 2030: Empowering All long-term strategic framework; and improving communication with the community, which he says was a key priority.

Swertfager says his commitment is shown by having missed only one board meeting out of 90-plus, missed only three committee meetings out of 100-plus, served on finance, policy, sustainability, and facilities committees, and attended every school tour, every year.

Nancy Bachana

A Katonah resident, Nancy Bachana says her family chose to move here from New York City three years ago primarily due to the school district’s strong reputation, as well the supportive community around KLSD schools.

“It has been the right decision for our child, who has been thriving here,” she says. “I’m running to help ensure that every student has that same opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive as our son has had.”

NANCY BACHANA

Bachana says she brings experience in public service, education, and community-building, and is committed to listening, collaborating, and making thoughtful decisions for the district.

As a volunteer, Bachana was chair of the Wellness Committee at P.S. 9 in New York City, where she led community-building and fundraising programs for five years. She also served as assistant cubmaster to BSA Pack 777. She sits on the Lewisboro Open Space Committee, helping steward six local properties, including the expansive Leon Levy preserve in South Salem. 

Bachana says in 2023 she earned a certificate in public history and currently serves as a museum educator at the Delaware & Hudson Canal Museum near Kingston, N.Y. 

“There I interpret complex histories to deepen understanding for today’s audiences, manage fun events, and design hands-on learning experiences for young visitors, aligned with New York state standards,” she says. 

She is a judge for the annual Mid-Hudson History Day, mentoring and evaluating high-school student research, presentations, and creative work.

Bachana spent 10 years in leadership and operations roles with the New York City Mayor’s Office and Department of Transportation, where she applied her master’s in urban planning, holding roles as chief of staff to deputy commissioners of planning and passenger transport, responsible for stewardship of public facilities and services. In her early career she was in sales and marketing for publishers, including St. Martin’s Press, Little, Brown and Company, and Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

“My work has centered on bringing people together, solving complex problems, and improving public systems,” she says. 

“I am grateful that all my experiences culminated into the work of education — helping visitors and students connect with history, think critically, and engage with the world around them,” said Bachana.

Melissa Dilmaghani

Melissa Dilmaghani says she and her family have called Katonah home for over 13 years, “and our small business has been right in the heart of downtown for more than a decade.”

MELISSA DILMAGHANI

She served for over three years as vice president and events chair of the Katonah Chamber of Commerce, and spent years on the Katonah Museum of Art Gala Committee, which she chaired in 2020. 

“I am known as a dedicated, hands-on contributor and a very hard worker who cares deeply about our community’s strength and future,” she says.

As mother of two boys, 10 and 13, who both attended Katonah Elementary School, Dilmaghani says “our path hasn’t been one-way-fits-all, and our unique experiences have given me a broad perspective on what’s working well in our district and where we can continue to evolve and grow.”

Among other local volunteer work and Katonah-Lewisboro SEPTO engagement, in 2023 she co-founded Inclusive Initiative, a Bedford-based community group focused on increasing awareness and understanding of neurodiversity through education and partnership. 

Dilmaghani recently earned her master’s in education technology and instructional design and is pursuing state teacher certification.

“This fresh experience and knowledge within the education field has helped me stay current with what’s happening in education today, from best inclusive practices like Universal Design for Learning to technology supports for all learners to social emotional learning development, as well as important considerations for the future, like where we are headed with tech like AI and more,” she said.

Dilmaghani says fiscal responsibility and transparency are of utmost importance to her, and said, “I know these can tend to feel like buzzwords, but they aren’t that to me.” She said she is committed to helping the district continue, strengthen, or add to its support of all students, across a wide range of learning needs; embrace innovation with the most effective use of technology; and foster a school environment where students feel truly engaged, supported, understood, and appropriately challenged.

“I believe in a collaborative and creative solutions-focused approach with all working together,” she said. “I am focused on strengthening trust between families and schools, supporting teachers with the tools and resources they need, and making thoughtful, student-centered decisions.”