Northport-East Northport school district

VOTING

6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at William J. Brosnan School, Fifth Avenue Elementary School and Dickinson Avenue Elementary School.

THE BUDGET

The district proposes a $161,380,883 budget for 2016-17, a 1.12 percent increase from the current $159,588,325. The tax levy would increase 0.55 percent, from $140,219,309 to $140,997,356.

This increase is equal to the district’s tax-cap limit, so a simple majority vote will be required to approve the budget. School taxes on the average single-family house would rise 0.85 percent, from $6,621.09 to $6,677.48.

The proposed budget includes a 1.2 percent contractual increase for teachers and a 0.5 percent step increase. District officials said the spending plan would add electives, including American Sign Language, technology courses and a business computers course.

Voters also will consider two ballot propositions. One proposition seeks authorization to dedicate $2.095 million from reserve funds for capital improvements, including replacement of a boiler at Ocean Avenue Elementary School and replacement of the gymnasium ceiling and renovation of locker rooms at Northport Middle School. The proposition’s approval does not have any effect on taxes, the district said.

The other proposition would reduce the number of school board members from nine to seven. If approved, the change would take effect with the May 2017 board election, with one seat open instead of three.

District website

web.northport.k12.ny.us

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbents Julia Binger, Lori McCue and Andrew Rapiejko and candidates Allison Noonan and Shawne Albero are vying for three at-large seats. Binger, McCue and Rapiejko are running as a slate. Terms are three years.

Shawne Albero

BACKGROUND: Albero, 45, is a homemaker and volunteer for The Open Word, a literacy and job readiness program for adult immigrant women run by the Amityville-based Sisters of St. Dominic. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Fairfield University in Connecticut, a master’s degree in elementary education from Hofstra University and a master’s degree in special education from LIU. She has lived in the community for more than six years and has a son enrolled in Northport Middle School. Albero is or has been involved in more than a dozen community, education and other organizations, including the district’s Special Education Parent Teacher Association and its education committee, and Parents as Reading Partners at Bellerose Avenue Elementary School. She is a past Cub Scout troop organizer and secretary.

ISSUES: Albero said the tax cap and the uncertainty of state aid are among the most important issues facing the district. She called for collaboration between the district and advocacy organizations and suggested a board-directed citizen legislative committee to lobby Albany for changes to the tax-cap law. “The tax cap will never go away,” Albero said. “But we can make changes, like eliminating a negative cap on the levy.” She said she also is concerned that students who get help through the district’s academic intervention labs miss out on elective and academic courses available to other students. “It’s great we’re meeting the needs of students who are struggling,” Albero said, but they deserve access to STEM programs, the arts and other special classes that help set students on a course for higher education.

Julia Binger

BACKGROUND: Binger, 62, is an attorney specializing in immigration law and a partner in Northport Mediation Services, which focuses on divorce mediation. She received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University in 1976, and her law degree from NYU School of Law. “I’m on the school board because I believe in education,” she said. “I believe in public education and I believe in serving the community as best I can,” she said. She has lived in the district for 23 years and had two children — twins — who graduated from Northport High School in 2009. Binger plays cello for the Northport Symphony Orchestra. She has served on the board since 2010.

ISSUES: Binger said one of the most important issues facing the district is the Long Island Power Authority tax litigation. LIPA pays about $73 million annually in taxes on the Northport power plant — much of which goes to the school district — and the power authority is challenging its tax assessment. LIPA officials have asserted that the plant has been overassessed by as much as 90 percent. Binger said the district must budget with potential consequences of the LIPA litigation in mind. “We can make sure that we have healthy reserves and, any way we can, economize,” she said.

Lori McCue

BACKGROUND: McCue, 47, is a former advertising and marketing professional. She said she considers the board of education her “primary job.” She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Villanova University. A district resident for 17 years, she has two children: a sophomore at Northport High School and a college freshman who also graduated from Northport. She is a past president of Ocean Avenue Elementary School PTA and the Northport Middle School PTA. McCue has served on the board since 2010 and is chairwoman of the panel’s Audit Committee and a member of the Policy Committee.

ISSUES: McCue said the most important issue facing the district is the cap on the tax levy, which she said was “scant” this year at 0.55 percent. If re-elected, she plans to lobby elected leaders in Albany to make changes to the cap legislation. She said she would call for a consistent 2 percent cap and change the law to prevent negative tax caps. “There should never be a tax cap below zero,” McCue said. “It just makes no sense. I’m not implying we should remove the legislation. It’s very popular with taxpayers – it’s popular with me as a taxpayer. I just think it needs more common sense.” McCue said she and her fellow incumbents in the race have the experience to help support new Superintendent Robert Banzer. “I think he deserves for the people who hired him to be there,” she said.

Allison Noonan

BACKGROUND: Noonan, 53, is a secondary teacher in the Syosset school district, where she teaches 10th and 12th grade. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Suffolk University in Boston, and a master’s in education from Dowling College. She is co-president of Northport-East Northport’s PTA Council for 2015-16 and has been president of the district’s Special Education Parent Teacher Association since 2014. She has two children — twins — who attend Northport Middle School.

ISSUES: Noonan said the tax cap is the district’s most pressing problem and said she would focus on building relationships with state lawmakers to seek reform of the law. She suggested provisions that would exclude some portions of the budget from falling under the cap. Noonan said that the district has been unifying under the leadership of Banzer after the tenure of former schools chief Marylou McDermott, who was at the helm when a state comptroller’s report took issue with the district’s budgeting practices. Noonan said she and candidate Shawne Albero are positioned to work with Banzer for a fresh start. “It’s very difficult to move forward when you’ve got the old guard on board,” she said.

Andrew Rapiejko

BACKGROUND: Rapiejko, 51, is a hydrogeologist for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, where he works on groundwater issues. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Binghamton University and a master’s degree in hydrogeology from Stony Brook University. He has lived in the district for 18 years and has two children — one in the 11th-grade at Northport High School and the other a graduate of the school. He has been a parent member to a local Boy Scout troop, a high school PTA member and a board member of the Fort Salonga Property Owners Association. He is the school board’s president and has served on the panel since 2010.

ISSUES: Rapiejko said the LIPA litigation is a critical issue for the district, with potential financial repercussions for all residents. “If they are successful in what they are seeking, that would make for a big challenge,” he said, adding that the district must continue its legal fight. Rapiejko said the six years of work that he and his fellow incumbents have invested in the board will be critical to support Banzer as he settles into his role as superintendent. “There’s a lot to learn on the board,” he said. “It takes a while to be an effective board member. That’s what my two fellow board members Julia Binger, Lori McCue and I offer — experience . . . He is going to need a board that has experience.”