Schools

Two Slates Emerge in School Trustee Race

Eight board of ed candidates to participate in two meet-and-greets this week.

With just over two weeks until the community votes on the school budget and elects four new trustees, the has aligned into two distinct slates.

On one side, incumbent Frank McIntosh, former trustee Jackie Rudman, community activist Faiza Akhtar, and Charlie Massimo, who lost his bid last year for a school board seat, have announed they are running together. The foursome distributed a joint letter on Saturday in which they said they aim to "bring balance to a board that has become too favorable to lobbying groups while forgetting the needs of the average family." Akhtar has also said the group's platform is about both the taxpayers and the children.

Opposite that group of candidates, former North Shore Montessori trustee Inger Germano, childcare professional Irene Gische, Deanna Bavlnka, a human resources administrator, and Jeff Kerman, a local dentist, are running together. Germano described their approach as one that puts the community's children first while exhausting every revenue source before turning to the taxpayers at budget time.

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Three Village's trustee race is one of the more hotly-contested races in the region. Four seats are also open on the ; in that district, two candidates are running unopposed and two incumbents are each facing one challenger. In , six candidates are running for two open seats, and in , three candidates are vying for two open seats. One incumbent is running unopposed, while two others each face one challenger.

That Three Village has as many candidates as it does is a good sign, according to Barbara Bradley, deputy communications director for the New York State School Boards Association.

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"You have a real contest," she said. "A lot of times school districts are lucky to get candidates at all for this volunteer job."

While some candidates on either side know each other via mutual acquaintances, school meeting attendance or other school-related activities, others didn't know each other until the trustee race began.

Candidates on both sides have talked about fiscal responsibility, making smart cuts, and targeting ways to be more efficient, but the idea of teachers' union support for candidates seems to have emerged as one of the key issues in the race.

At the April 26 board meeting, resident Tricia Restucci asked the school board whether the union has financially supported candidates in the past – which the union is legally allowed to do – and suggested such an action creates "sort of a tug-of-war between the union and the community."

Trustee Jonathan Kornreich said the union does sometimes provide money for things like signs or other marketing materials – and those candidates who do receive financial support from the union are required to disclose those contributions to the school district, which then become public records.

"It’s a question that anyone can see when candidates file their required financial disclosures. ... It's black and white," Kornreich said.

Sometimes it also depends on whether a candidate is capable of independently raising campaign funds, trustee Susanne Mendelson added.

The executive board of the Three Village Teachers Association typically conducts a vote when deciding whether to back any candidates, a vote which union president Claudia Reinhart said has not yet taken place this year.

"In regard to the candidates, the TVTA has not made a decision on who to support or if we are going to involve ourselves in supporting candidates," Reinhart told Patch on Monday. "We're going to meet the candidates tonight and I'll certainly be at the PTA meeting and we'll decide from there."

The real tug-of-war, however, may be the dynamic emerging between the two slates.

"I feel that it creates divisions within the community," Germano said.

Akhtar disagreed, saying this year's trustee race is no more divisive than in past years.

"Is it really that divisive, or is it just that much more transparent now?" she said. "That's the real question."

The clash has lately been fueled by a website called "Save 3vcsd." It recalls another website established several years ago, The Waking Bear, which helped expose actual misuse of district money by former superintendent John Sonedecker, but which has not been updated in some time. On the Save 3vcsd site, recent posts, including an open letter to Reinhart and another post alleging that district resources have been used illegally for campaigning purposes, have been anonymous thus far.

Kornreich said he has heard some community members describe this year's race as an ugly one, comparing it to the kinds of recent labor and budget battles seen in Wisconsin or Washington, D.C. But the bottom line, he said, is that it's crucial for "people with different educational philosophies, fiscal philosophies, to each have a seat at the table."

"That's really vitally important to the proper functioning of a board," Kornreich said. "To the extent that people running together will not undermine that, I think it can either be a good or a bad thing."

Bradley agreed, saying that the idea of separate slates may inspire lively debate within communities.

"It gives voters some way to better be able to choose or sort out each candidate based on the issues in the community," she said. "Ultimately, what will matter is how everyone comes together on the board to right by the kids in the community."

Three Village will have two chances this week to get to know the candidates. The Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook is facilitating a meet-and-greet at the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library on Monday at 7:30 p.m., and the Three Village PTA is holding a "Meet the Candidates" night at Ward Melville High School on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Election day, during which residents will also decide the fate of the , is set for Tuesday, May 17 between the hours of 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the five elementary schools.

Stay tuned to Three Village Patch for video profiles of each school board candidate over the next two weeks.


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