Every two years the NYC Education Department conducts Community and Citywide Education Council elections. The council panels are the reconstituted successors to the old community school boards.
There are 32 CECs, one for each local school district, and each consists of nine parents of students currently in pre-K to eighth grade. They also have two members appointed by the borough presidents.
Candidates seeking a seat on these panels had to file an application to run with the Dept. of Education by Feb. 13. This year’s election will take place from April 21 to May 9 and the winners will be installed on July 1.
The DOE is currently holding candidate forums in each school district. You are required to pre-register online to view the forums. Here are the dates for some nearby Brooklyn districts: CEC 15, Monday, March 15; CEC 20, Monday, March 13 and CEC 21, Thursday, March 30. All the forums start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast via Zoom. To register: sign on to LearnDOE.org/cec/candidateforum.
With the limited space we have, the focus here is on CEC 20, which covers primarily Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. There are 46 candidates running with six incumbents, including President Steve Stowe. CEC 15 has 32 candidates and CEC 21 has 40.
* * *
The last time Schools Chancellor David Banks came out to southwest Brooklyn was when he attended “A Town Hall Event,” on Nov. 1, 2022, held by CEC 20 at P.S. 160 in Borough Park. We learned he will be returning for another Town Hall, for CEC 21, on Tuesday, March 21 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at P.S. 212, 87 Bay 49th St.
62nd Precinct officers honored on Medal Day 
Man fires gun outside restaurant