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Health & Fitness

Election Eve in Wantagh

Handicapping the critically important Wantagh School Board race on the eve of tomorrow's vote. Food for thought and a reminder to VOTE.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 21, is Wantagh's big day: School Budget Vote and the election of two Trustees to the Board of Education.  The budget carries among the lowest tax levy increases on the Island, is well below the cap limits, and features the addition of Full-day Kindergarten for the first time, here. I am hopeful of the budget passing.  The more important feature is the school board race, which will have implications for our educational programs and our taxes for many years into the future, well beyond the 3-year terms of the people we elect as Trustees.  This, then, deserves everyone's most careful consideration when casting your votes tomorrow.

Often regarded as a popularity contest or some kind of power struggle among community factions, the school board election this year offers an interesting array of seven diverse candidates.  This is one of the larger slates of contenders in many years.

One woman and six men.  One teenager, a freshly minted high school graduate, and six homeowners.  One incumbent seeking re-election, five new faces, and one former board member hoping to make a come-back after having been voted out of office previously. One administrator from a gold coast school district, an active detective, a retired City cop, a retired county worker, a full-time parent, a college freshman, and a businessman in the City.  That is about as broad a spectrum of Wantagh as you could imagine.

Four of the candidates have relevant experience in public education:
Bill Russack (incumbent), Kera McLoughlin, Don Lang and Ralph Spagnolo.

The fifth, Peter Mountanos, graduated last June from Wantagh High. and although his was the beneficiary of 13 years of schooling, here. his experience is not in any manner in the areas of budgeting, policy making, union negotiations, or managing others.

The other two candidates, Costello and Hoffman are fine people, but when carefully considering who should be on the Board of Education, in charge of a $75 million budget and 7 labor agreements covering more than 500 people and constrained by a tax cap, I suggest these candidates need a couple of years participating in the affairs of the school district, meaning the Board of Education's proceedings and committee work before they are prepared to serve.

Of the four candidates with any relevant experience, I handicap them like this:

1. Bill Russack, incumbent, homeowner, has a solid record of responsible budgets, meaning budgets under the cap and which passed, and the implementation of full-day kindergarten this September.  Bill holds a Masters Degree and is an NCPD Detective serving in the Computer Crimes Unit.  He had years of service on School District Committees before joining the Board of Ed, including:

  • Schools Technology Committee
  • Buildings & Grounds Committee
  • Budget Advisory Committee (BAC)
  • BAC Chairperson
2. Kera McLoughlin, parent, homeowner.  Kera is President of Wantagh SEPTA and served on the District's Declining Enrollment & Full-day Kindergarten Committee.  She is an advocate for children with Autism and their families.  She holds a Masters Degree from Columbia and was formerly a teacher in the Massapequa School District.

3. Don Lang, parent, homeowner.  Don holds a Masters Degree and is the Athletic Director in the North Shore Central School District (Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Glenwood Landing). North Shore Central School District has 500 fewer students than Wantagh, yet North Shore's annual spending is $32,000 per pupil compared to $21,000 for Wantagh.  Wantagh's most recent performance on State Assessment and Regents exceeds the performance of North Shore Central almost across-the-board.  Don is a member of a collective bargaining unit and of the NYS Teachers Retirement System.  His salary as AD responsible for the same number of schools but 500 fewer students compared to Wantagh is more than 50% higher than his counterpart earns in Wantagh.

4. Ralph Spagnolo. Homeowner, retired.  Former member of the Board of Education, was previously voted out of office after 9 years service. 

Summation:  It's your vote.  I urge you to consider the candidates carefully and to resist the popularity contest thinking, concern yourself only with your own children and put their educational welfare ahead of factional thinking. 

Remember to get out a VOTE!

Tuesday, May 21, until 9:00 PM, in the 3 Elementary Schools, which will hopefully proudly host full-day kindergarten in September.
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