Manhasset School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday at Manhasset High School gymnasium.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing an $83,512,677 budget for the 2010-11 school year, an increase of 2.98 percent over the current $81,094,279 budget. The local tax levy would increase from $73,122,914 to $74,024,587, an increase of 1.23 percent.

The average house assessed at $1.2 million would pay school taxes of $11,102 - an increase of 1.5 percent over the current figure of $10,938.

Teachers' salaries including step increases would go up by 5.05 percent under the proposed budget. There are no layoffs of teachers or administrators, and no cuts to services and programs.

There is a referendum on a proposition to establish a capital reserve fund that would use a transfer of surplus money, if any, for future districtwide improvements. It would not involve an increase in the tax rate.

District website:

manhasset.k12.ny.us

THE CANDIDATES

Craig Anderson, Karen Haunss-Sapinski, Greg Johnston and Regina Rule are running for two seats with three-year terms. Larry Belinsky and Aline Khatchadourian are not seeking re-election.

Craig Anderson

BACKGROUND: Anderson, 49, has lived in the district for 17 years and is a senior vice president for operations at Publisher's Clearing House. He and his wife, Mary Donohue, have three children. One is a graduate of the district, one attends Maryhaven Center of Hope and the third is enrolled at Greenvale School. Anderson earned a bachelor of science degree from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and an MBA from St. John's University.

ISSUES: Anderson said, "The most important issue currently facing the Manhasset Public School District is how to maintain a premier college prep curriculum while managing both rising costs and student population." He said specific areas that must be addressed include working with the administration to develop the best in-class operating budget that enables academic growth but is responsible to the taxpayers. He also said the district must "define key metrics at the subject level to set targets for continuous academic improvement and measure future success." He added that the district must come up with a near-term plan to address the rising student population and related pressure on facilities, extracurricular activities and class sizes.

Karen Haunss-Sapinski

BACKGROUND: Haunss-Sapinski, 42, is a physician who has lived in the district for nine years. She graduated from Manhattan College with a bachelor of science in biochemistry and obtained her medical degree from the University of Virginia. She and her husband, Richard Sapinski, have two children in a district elementary school.

ISSUES: The most important issue facing the district, Haunss-Sapinski said, "is maintaining a quality education for our students while controlling rising costs in a time of recession." She said ways she would try to bring about change would include negotiating with the teachers union "like surrounding districts have done to bring down costs." She would also look at alternate funding sources outside of the state and federal governments by applying for grants. Finally, she would "challenge our students and educators to get the Manhasset school district back into the top 100 schools in America."

Greg Johnston

BACKGROUND: Johnston, 43, has lived in the district for 13 years. A consultant in finance who graduated from New York University, he and his wife, Rebeca, have two children who attend a district elementary school.

ISSUES: Johnston said that "maintaining the highest standards in education is the most important issue facing our district." He said that according to a Newsweek survey, Manhasset High School has dropped from 12th in 2003 to 160th in its national rankings and is no longer included in US News and World Report's top 100 high schools. He added that the district no longer employs an assistant superintendent for curriculum, but rather the curriculum is managed by the superintendent, one of his assistants and other school officials. If elected, he said would fill the vacant curriculum position and reinstate the annual curriculum review that was in place in 2003.

Regina Rule

BACKGROUND: Rule, 48, is a retired bond trader who earned a bachelor of arts in economics from Yale University. She and her husband, Richard, have two children who attend the district high school. She has lived in the district for 17 years. She has led two Girl Scout troops, been active in the local School Community Association, and been a member of the district's Citizen Advisory Committees for Finance and for Legislative Affairs.

ISSUES: Growing secondary enrollment is the most important issue facing Manhasset schools, Rule said. More than 250 additional students are expected in the next six years. The current building configuration lacks capacity to house additional sections, and she said she wants to maintain class sizes at current levels. As past chair of the SCA Community Education Committee, she said she has a proven track record of informing the community and encouraging participation in the process of school governance. "When the community understands issues, focuses on the future and works toward solutions as a team," she said, "we can address all the issues and deliver excellence in education for all children."