Baldwin School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday at Baldwin Senior High School.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing a 2010-11 school budget of $116,521,230, a 2.2 percent increase over the current $114,009,350 budget.

The tax levy would increase 0.85 percent to $82,266,320 from the current $81,576,343.

District officials said they were unable to provide an estimate of school taxes that would be paid on the average home, citing assessment information from Nassau County that is not yet available.

The proposed budget includes a 3 percent contractual salary increase for teachers plus a 1.94 percent average step increase.

The budget proposal includes a reduction of seven teachers and four staff members. No significant programs or services are being cut.

District website:

baldwin.k12.ny.us

THE CANDIDATES

Kim Taylor, John P. McCloy Jr., Gregory J. McGlynn, George Siberon, and incumbents Mary Clark and Carl Williams are running for two at-large seats. Terms are three years.

Mary Clark

BACKGROUND: Clark, 59, has served on the Baldwin board of education since 2001. She has lived in the district for 30 years. Clark is a registered nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. She has a bachelor of science degree from Mercy College and is a graduate of St. Clare's Nursing School in Manhattan. Clark and her husband, Robert, have three children who are district public school graduates.

ISSUES: Clark said, "The biggest challenge facing board of education members is maintaining a solid educational program while keeping expenditures in check. . . . Our community has always been very supportive of our schools, but we realize we could be taxing people out of our community." She said that as a board member she will "continue to lobby our legislators to change laws so school districts don't have so many unfunded mandates."

John P. McCloy Jr.

BACKGROUND: McCloy, who said he is in his 50s, is a business consultant and a New York State-licensed life and health insurance agent. He has a bachelor of science degree from St. John's University. He and his wife, Aletha, have two children who attended Baldwin public schools but completed their high school education at the University of Delaware skating training center. This is his first run for the school board.

ISSUES: McCloy said, "Voters must resoundingly call for change." He said that he remembered when the district had a "nationally recognized high school of excellence." However, he said, "our non-graduation rate now exceeds 10 percent. . . . We need board members who will not rubber-stamp wasteful policies."

Gregory J. McGlynn

BACKGROUND: McGlynn, 27, has lived in the district for 25 years. He has been in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for the past six years. He served an eight-month tour of duty in Iraq from September 2008 to April 2009, and also served in Mozambique in 2007. McGlynn is a sophomore political science major at Hofstra University. He is single. This is his first run for the school board.

ISSUES: McGlynn said, "People in Baldwin are tired of the same old partisan politics of the school administration. . . . I will not be a tool of the administration, but a voice for the people of Baldwin." He continued, "Establishing tax rates that are not a burden to the citizens of Baldwin will be" at the "forefront in my endeavors." He added, "I also believe that school board members should be active representatives in their community."

George Siberon

BACKGROUND: Siberon, 62, is executive director of the Hempstead Hispanic Civic Association, which works with at-risk youth, among other programs. From 1996 to 1999, he was a district manager for U.S. Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-Brooklyn). Siberon has a bachelor of arts from Queens College, a master of social work degree from Fordham University and a master of public administration degree from Baruch College. Siberon has lived in the district for 19 years. He and his wife, Margarita Lopez-Siberon, have a child in a district public school. This is his first run for the school board.

ISSUES: Siberon said, "Drastic cuts in school aid . . . will be the single most important issue facing the Baldwin school district." Because of this, he said, "It is important to have trustees experienced in advocacy and lobbying at the state and local level. . . . As a former district manager for Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez [D-Brooklyn] . . . and former executive director of the Nassau County Youth Board, I have that experience." He added, "I am also experienced in line-item budgeting."

Kim Taylor

BACKGROUND: Taylor, 47, is a self-employed speech-language pathologist. She has lived in the district for 15 years. This is her first run for the school board. Taylor is divorced and has a child attending a district public school. She is the legislative vice president of the Brookside Elementary School Parent Teacher Association and has been re-elected to that position for the 2010-11 school year. Taylor is a parent member of the site-based team, which sets up educational events at the Brookside School. She has been a class parent for three years at Brookside.

ISSUES: Taylor said that the district's most important issue is "the lack of transparency and community involvement. . . . Decisions cannot be made behind closed doors." She criticized what she called a recent school board attempt to increase class sizes as "a deeply unpopular plan." Taylor said the plan was "stopped at the last minute only because a number of involved parents discovered the proposal and organized an e-mail and petition drive to oppose it." Taylor said she would "work to make the decision-making process transparent and engage the community at all stages."

Carl Williams

BACKGROUND: Williams, 51, is an electrical engineer. He works as the project engineer in Distributed Generation Services for National Grid in Hicksville. Williams has lived in the district for 20 years and was appointed to the Baldwin school board in July to complete the final year of a three-year term after a board member resigned. Williams has a bachelor of electrical engineering degree from Manhattan College. He and his wife, Janet, have two children, one in a district public school, the other in a private school outside the district.

ISSUES: Williams said, "The most critical issue facing the Baldwin district is the inequity of financial support from the state. . . . The current statewide fiscal crisis means that we will see a reduction in the financial support we receive from the state for at least the next couple of years." Williams said that, if elected, he intends to participate in organizations that "lobby Albany to assume a greater share of the cost of education."