Levittown School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

Noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Gardiners Avenue, Wisdom Lane, Levittown Memorial, Division Avenue, Northside, East Broadway, Lee Road and Jonas Salk schools.

THE BUDGET

The district's proposed 2010-11 school budget is $193,543,816, a 6.12 percent increase over the current $182,382,412 school budget. The school tax levy would increase 3.81 percent, to $122,305,806 from the current $117,811,521.

The school tax paid on the average home assessed at $730 would increase 3.81 percent to $5,453 from $5,253.

The budget proposal includes teacher raises of 3.5 percent, plus automatic step increases ranging up to 4.8 percent.

It would cut 10 teaching and four clerical staff positions.

A ballot proposition would reduce the minimum distance for providing transportation for kindergarten through fifth-grade students. Those who live at least a half-mile from their school, instead of the current minimum of three-quarters of a mile, would be eligible. The change would increase the school budget about $856,000.

District website:

levittownschools.com

THE CANDIDATES

Thomas Kohlman, Peggy Sheridan-Marenghi, James Moran and incumbent Dan Bornstein are running for two seats with three-year terms. Gina Interdonato is not seeking re-election.

Dan Bornstein

BACKGROUND: Bornstein, 46, is an operations manager for Verizon. A 12-year district resident, he has been on the school board for three years and is now president. He and his wife, Pam, have three children who are students in district schools. Bornstein has a bachelor of science degree in business management from Empire State College. He served for five years during the mid-2000s on the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, which reviews the annual school budget and makes recommendations to the board of education. He has been active in district PTAs since 1999, and was Summit Lane Elementary School PTA president, 2006-07.

ISSUES: Bornstein said that he has been part of a "positive change on this school board in that we have driven more transparency in the operations of the district than has ever been before. . . . We conduct our business in the open for the community to be part of, to follow the process. My goals in regard to that are to continue to drive towards even more transparency and make it the norm, not the exception." He added, "We need to continue to find ways to reduce operating expense while maintaining quality education for our children."

Thomas Kohlman

BACKGROUND: Kohlman, 59, is president of a design and painting company in Wantagh. Kohlman graduated from the district's Gen. Douglas MacArthur High School and lived in Colorado from 1976 to 1987 before moving back. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of Restaurant Management in New Haven, Conn., and was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. Kohlman and his wife, Irene, have a child who attends a district school. Kohlman served on the school board's Citizens Budget Advisory Committee in 2009-10 and also on the Secondary Education Committee. This is his first run for the school board.

ISSUES: Kohlman said that while he was on the budget advisory committee "we did our best to put out a budget that didn't involve any cuts for the students." However, he said, "We're taxing our senior citizens right out of the neighborhood." He said "this is a very crucial year for Levittown" because the district will be "looking for a new superintendent, and the teachers' contracts are up next year." Kohlman said, "I'm just your average Joe out there, hoping I'm coming to the table with some common sense."

James Moran

BACKGROUND: Moran, 51, has lived in Levittown for 45 years and graduated from a district high school. He is a supervisor in the Town of Hempstead Department of Sanitation. Moran and his wife, Catherine, have two children who graduated from district schools. Moran served on the Levittown school board for 11 years and was president for three years. He resigned for personal reasons in 2008. Moran volunteers as the assistant commissioner of Levittown Red Devils football, as an umpire for Levittown Little League, and a basketball coach at St. Bernard's Catholic Church.

ISSUES: Moran touted his 11 years of experience on the school board and said, "My only desire is to educate children." He added, "In my opinion, we don't get the state aid that we should be getting in the downstate area. We need to start lobbying like we used to do . . . making trips to Albany . . . to lobby the legislature to increase the state aid coming to Levittown so our taxpayers can reap the benefit."

Peggy Sheridan-Marenghi

BACKGROUND: Sheridan-Marenghi, 55, is an elementary school principal in another district. A lifelong district resident, she is making her first run for the school board. She has a bachelor's degree in education from SUNY Old Westbury, and a master's in mental health counseling from Hofstra University. She also has certification as a school district administrator from the College of New Rochelle. Sheridan-Marenghi has two children, one of whom graduated from a district public school, the other a private school. Since 2000, Sheridan-Marenghi has been an American Red Cross shelter manager, and she was a rescue worker at Ground Zero in 2001.

ISSUES: Sheridan-Marenghi said the most important thing for a school board member is to be "fiscally responsible without compromising education. . . . I think it's very clear how to do it. Collect data on current educational programs, see their effectiveness, and if they are not working and cost effective, then redirect finances into programs that meet the needs of today's learners." She said her 30 years of experience in education has allowed her to study "the inner workings of the system" and would lead her to make "informed decisions."