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From Majority
To Minority

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

T

welve years ago, when Joyce
Zack was elected to the Oak
Park school board, all but
one of the board members
were Jewish.
Ms. Zack — whose children
graduated from Oak Park High
School before she joined the board
— is retiring this spring, and the
district she leaves behind is far dif-
ferent demographically than the
one she originally encountered.
Once predominantly Jewish, the
schools are now mostly African
American and Chaldean.
However, despite the shrinking
Jewish student body, two Jewish
members — both Orthodox— will
remain on the Oak Park school
board after Ms. Zack's departure.
Board members Robert Stern
and Chaim Garfinkel send their
children to Jewish day schools, but
say they serve on the board be-
cause of an interest in children,
education and maintaining a "vi- _
able community" in Oak Park.
Although both Mr. Stern and
Mr. Garfinkel preferred to focus
on their interest in serving the

general Oak Park community,
they may also be motivated — in
part — by a concern for the area's
Jewish community.
Chuck Domstein, a teacher at
Oak Park High School who is Jew-
ish but not Orthodox, speculates
that Orthodox board members are
"making sure their tax dollars are
spent wisely," and ensuring that
certain services — like crossing
guards and access to athletic fa-
cilities — are available to Oak
Park residents not enrolled in the
public schools.
A special education teacher in
the Detroit public schools, Robert
Stern has served on the Oak Park
school board two years and is its
vice president. "I don't think not
having children in the schools is
any reason not to have concern for
the school district itself," he said.
His children attend Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah and Sally Allan Alexan-
der Beth Jacob School for Girls.
"A good school system will keep
the neighborhood strong and sta-
ble, and that's what the Jewish
community wants," Mr. Stern

added. "As long as we can keep do-
ing that we won't have Jewish
people scattering anymore."
Like Mr. Stern, Mr. Garfinkel
has served on the school board for
two years. An attorney, he says
he serves on the board "to better
the future of our kids." Although
his children attend Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah and Sally Allen Alexan-
der Beth Jacob School for Girls,
Mr. Stern said that — were it not
for the lack of Hebrew education
— he would send his children to
the Oak Park public schools.
The four non-Jewish board
members are African-American,
and agree there is little tension
between the multi-ethnic mem-
bers of the board. "I don't think it's
an issue," said school board pres-
ident Andrea Polley, who is
African-American.
'We get along well and work as
a team," said Ms. Zack. "We all
have the interest of the students'
education at heart."
"We're individuals who are
there for the same purpose," said
Mr. Garfinkel. "Tensions would
be a negative result. The positive
is that we've become fiends; we've
become closer."
Two seats are open in Oak
Park's school board election on
June 9. Claudette Lunkins and
Latanya Banks —neither of
whom is Jewish—are running un-
opposed. ❑

All Of Us

N

A community program draws a full crowd to
learn about living a homosexual, Jewish life.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

T

he program was called Ku-
lanu, "All of Us," and the
topic was how being gay is
not just about sex. Spon-
sored by the Michigan Jewish
AIDS Coalition (MJAC), the May
20 program attracted an audience

of about 150 to the Maple-Drake
Jewish Community Center.
Volunteers, social workers,
MJAC officials and rabbis pre-
sented a series of vignettes about
the issues dealt with by gay and
lesbian Jews. A discussion fol-

WDIV-TV's Lila Orbach served as a moderator.

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