By Joseph Zuniga
While most Dominican students were stressing over midterms this past week, sophomore Damian Pereson-Estrada was outside on the sidewalks of Elmwood Park petitioning signatures for his campaign to join the school board, aiming to represent Hispanic voices and improve school safety.
By Oct. 10, Pereson-Estrada accumulated more than 90 signatures by actively approaching people in his neighborhood. His goal is to get 150 signatures by Nov. 12 as he looks to grab one of the three open seats. He is the youngest of six people running.
Pereson-Estrada, who is majoring in education with a minor in political science, has school politics close to heart.
As of right now, Jonathan Rivera is only one Hispanic on the school board. Pereson-Estrada has voiced concern about Rivera’s role, representation, and attendance rate in board meetings.
Pereson-Estrada aims to be a better role model and representative for the Hispanic community by showing students that Hispanics like Pereson-Estrada can make it to these positions in society.
However, he hopes to improve the community for everyone if he wins the school board election.
“I’m not Independent, Republican, [or] Democrat,” he said. “I’m just for everyone.”
One of Pereson-Estrada’s main concerns is safety. After a gun-related incident during his senior year at Elmwood Park High School, he looks to improve security.
In 2023, a student brought a handgun to school, but no lockdown was called. People questioned why the school was never put in lockdown.
Frank Parisi, president of school board, said Elmwood didn’t call for a lockdown because it would have been harder to track down the suspect.
After the incident, Pereson-Estrada led protests with both students and faculty to voice their concerns about the school administrators for the way they handled the incident. He said every administrator quit except for the superintendent.
He wants to make the board more diversified and progressive as he believes his youth could help bring in fresh ideas.
“People say, ‘Don’t you think you’re too young?’ and I say, ‘I think that, because I’m young [and] I’m a good candidate’”, he said.
David Dolence, professor of political science, says youth candidates such as Pereson-Estrada are not uncommon in local politics.
“When you get young people, who are passionate about something in particular and have political knowledge, it’s not uncommon for them to run in their early 20s,” he explained. “They don’t always win, but they don’t have to win.”
Dolence, who taught Pereson-Estrada in Introduction to American Government, said he is really “passionate about politics.”
“He probably talked to me after class for hours on multiple occasions. He is [just] fascinated by politics, and he cares,” Dolence said. “I think we don’t have enough of that in politics.”
Another concern for Pereson-Estrada is the lack of endorsement from the Mayor of Elmwood Park. He says the people, who are endorsed by the Mayor, will win the school board elections.
“At the local level, there’s little meaning to endorsements,” Dolence said. “They’re kind of like high school prom elections; it’s [about] popularity.”
If he loses, Pereson-Estrada plans to run again and still aims to help out the community in any way he can.
