Port Washington residents will elect three of four candidates vying for a seat on the school board in the May 17 election.
Incumbents school board President Karen Sloan and Trustee Christine Nadolne are joined in the race by former Town Council candidate Emily Beys and parent Dave Sattinger. All position are unpaid.
Residents will vote for the 2016-17 budget and board seats on May 17 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Weber Elementary School multi-purpose room.
Sloan, who is running for a second three-year term as board president, said she is seeking re-election because she wants to continue with efforts to improve the school district.
“I’m very devoted to the school district and to the students in the school and I’m just loving the direction the school district is taking now and I still want to be a part of it,” she said.
Sloan said she dedicates her time to maintaining quality academic and programs that result in high achievement and meaningful opportunities for children, both in the classroom and in the greater community as an extension of their education.
“One of my biggest accomplishments is being able to help facilitate on the board and continue improving the school district,” she said.
Sloan has served on the Board of Education for nine years, including seven as president. She has also served as president of the district’s Parents’ Council as well as the Guggenheim Elementary School PTA and has held numerous volunteer positions both during and after her children’s years attending Port Washington schools.
Nadolne said she’s running for a second three-year term because she wants to continue contributing to the school district.
“I’m excited to run again,” Nadolne said. “I feel I’ve done a good job addressing concerns, most recently about should teachers be allowed to tutor.”
Nadolne said she believes one of the biggest challenges is people reacting too quickly and not reaching a reasonable conclusion
“I do find that globally there’s too many reactionary responses instead of getting people that know education to look at the problem,” she said. “Instead of really looking at the problem and finding a solution it’s done quickly.”
She said she believes the current members of Board of Education as group offer a lot to the school district.
“Doesn’t mean there can’t be changes. I’ve enjoyed working with them for the past three years,” Nadolne said. “We are great, not that we couldn’t be better but we are great.”
Sattinger is the parent of an eighth-grade student at Weber Middle School, graduated Roslyn High School in 1981 and received a bachelor’s in political science at Binghamton University.
He said he’s running because he believes he can offer a new perspective to the school board.
“I come from outside of the box and I’m willing to talk up front and honestly about the issues in this community,” Sattinger said at a May 2 forum that was held in Paul D. Shreiber High School’s cafeteria. “I am not here for any other reason but to make this the best possible school district that we can have and ultimately we have a lot of work to do and the way we can go about it is by openly and honestly discussing issues.”
Sattinger said that sometimes leadership isn’t saying the most popular thing that people want to hear but it’s about involving people to solve the problems.
“I’ve had conversations with virtually every single board member here and we’ve laughed we’ve had discussions and there are going to be times where we are going to need to agree to disagree,” he said. “The biggest problem with politics if that people agree to disagree and then do nothing about it.”
Beys has served as Schreiber High School HSA co-president, Weber Middle School HSA co-president, Port Washington Parents’ Council co-president, Weber Middle School HSA membership vice president, Archangel Michael Greek Language Institute School Board co-president, and Archangel Michael Greek Language Institute PTA co-president.
Emily Beys said her leadership positions in parent organizations as well as the time she spent this past year talking to the residents of Port Washington provides the kind of perspective that would make her an effective school board trustee.
“I am able to offer the current parent population perspective on matters that are important to them, such as class size, PEP, testing and AP classes and I can empathize with the community at large the financial strain caused by growing costs,” Beys said.
Beys said she believes one of the school district’s and the community’s biggest challenges is centered around unfunded mandates.
“The school district must follow the law and at the same time serve and excel in serving the needs of its students,” she said.
If elected, Beys said, one of her goals would be to find better ways to communicate and work with state officials to decrease state-mandated expenses and communicate more effectively with the entire community what these mandates are.
“Over the years, I have had numerous conversations with community members who have great ideas about eliminating programs or making changes that simply cannot take place because of the unfunded mandates,” she said.
Residents will vote for school board candidates, the 2016-17 budget and the sale of property in Sands Point known as the ‘Middle Neck Road Parcel’ on May 17.
Assistant Superintendent Mary Callahan said the 2016-17 proposed budget comes with a 1.19 percent increase in spending and a .80 percent tax levy increase.
