The East Williston school board will likely see a shift after Tuesday’s election, with Albertson insurance salesman Alan Littman alone on the ballot to replace outgoing Trustee Barbara Slone.
Incumbent Trustee David Keefe, a 56-year Mineola resident, is running unopposed for a third three-year term alongside Littman, a lifelong district resident and 1981 Wheatley School graduate.
The election comes amid an outcry among over the suspension of Wheatley School social studies teacher Matthew Haig, and less than a week before the school board’s May 23 meeting, where many Wheatley students, alumni and parents are expected to speak in support of him.
Haig, a beloved Wheatley teacher for more than 30 years, was suspended with pay April 20 without any public explanation.
Privacy laws made Keefe and Littman unable to answer direct questions about Haig’s case at a candidates’ forum last week.
But in their responses to questions about issues related to his suspension, they defended the district’s transparency and said they think teachers should have “academic freedom” to teach controversial subjects.
Keefe called the school board “very, very transparent,” and Littman said its accessibility attracted him to it.
“It seemed to me like a transparent group of people who are working very hard and had no axe to grind, and the only thing that they want to do is provide great education for the children (and) a great working environment for the teachers,” Littman said last week.
Littman encouraged people dissatisfied with the district’s disciplinary process to stay engaged with the district.
“If you don’t like the system, come to more meetings, get involved and help effect change,” he said.
Littman and Keefe also mostly agreed on issues such as budget priorities and the state Common Core standards, with Keefe speaking from his six years’ experience on the school board and Littman saying he will have much to learn.
Littman said he thinks the Common Core standards are valuable but that tests aligned with them are not necessarily the best means of accountability.
While he said the district is obligated to enforce the standards as law, Keefe, a retired Hempstead school district teacher, said their link to teacher evaluations is their most controversial aspect.
Keefe said last month he thinks Littman would do well on the board and that current members would “nurture” him as a new trustee.
District residents will vote for the school board seats and the district’s 2016-2017 budget from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 17 in the gymnasium of the Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road in Old Westbury.
