Middle Country School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Centereach High School and Newfield High School.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing a budget of $207,877,471, which is a 3.82 percent increase over the current budget of $200,220,927. The local tax levy would rise from $106,961,639 to $111,232,000, an increase of 3.99 percent.

Taxes on an average home assessed at $4,000 would increase 3.99 percent from $7,892.54 to $8,207.64.

The proposed budget includes estimates for salary increase for teachers, which currently are being negotiated.

The budget calls for a reduction in staff of seven teachers and 23 teaching assistants. The budget will not necessitate significant cuts or changes to existing school programs, school officials said. The spending plan would also not add any new programs, officials said.

District website: mccsd.net

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Ronald Grinnell faces Carmel Fitzpatrick for one seat. Incumbent Kristopher Oliva faces Sean F. Clark and Christopher M. Millwater for another seat. Vincent Zecca challenges incumbent James Pendola for a final seat. Grinnell, Oliva and Pendola are running as a slate. Each seat carries a three-year term.

Sean F. Clark

BACKGROUND: Clark, 38, is an elementary school principal in another district. Clark and his wife, Laura, have two daughters who attend district schools. Clark holds an undergraduate degree in history from St. Joseph's College in Patchogue, a master's in special education from Long Island University's Brentwood campus and a certificate of advanced studies in educational administration from College of St. Rose in Albany. Clark also has taught in the New York City public school system.

ISSUES: Clark wants to change the school board elections to an at-large voting system. Currently, school board challengers run against a specific incumbent. An at-large system, in which the top vote-getters win seats, "guarantees the voice of the people is heard," Clark said. Clark said the board should "closely scrutinize" district educational programs and ensure the district is appropriating money in the right places. "You see a lot of foreclosure signs," he said. "I want to be responsible to the taxpayers."

Carmel Fitzpatrick

BACKGROUND: Fitzpatrick, 47, is a stay-at-home mother who previously worked for financial businesses as an administrative assistant. A native of Ireland, she spent a year in college there. Fitzpatrick and her husband, Jim, have four children, three of whom are triplets who attend district schools. Her oldest daughter attends a private school in Greenwich, Conn. Fitzpatrick has lived in the district for 20 years after moving to America in 1985.

ISSUES: Fitzpatrick believes the Middle Country district, and American school districts in general, need to raise educational standards. She cites numerous studies that show American students lagging behind students in some European countries in math, science and literacy. Fitzpatrick also believes the district needs to work harder to reach out to parents of special needs students. "I don't believe the parents in our special-education category are fully informed of what their rights are, what's available," she said.

Ronald Grinnell

BACKGROUND: Grinnell, 57, who has lived in the district for 30 years, has served on the school board since 1998. He is a middle school math teacher in another district. He and his wife, Kitty, have two adult children who graduated from Middle County schools. Grinnell holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics education from SUNY Oneonta, a master's degree in computer technology from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and a master's degree in mathematics and an advanced certificate in school business administration, both from Stony Brook University.

ISSUES: Grinnell said the key issue facing the district is "skyrocketing costs" - even though, he said, the Middle Country district has one of the lowest costs per student on Long Island. He said the board needs to "work with our state legislators for mandate relief that would bring [New York State] into alignment" with federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act laws from 2004. Grinnell said the board must improve the fact that only about 30 percent of district students with learning disabilities received a Regents diploma in 2008.

Christopher M. Millwater

BACKGROUND: Millwater, 37, owns a landscaping business in Selden. He is also a former stockbroker. Millwater has taken courses at Suffolk County Community College. He and his wife, Vicki, have two sons, one who attends a district elementary school and a 2-year-old. Millwater said he supports fellow candidate Carmel Fitzpatrick, but stopped short of describing the two as a formal slate. He has lived in the district for 32 years.

ISSUES: Millwater said the No. 1 issue facing the school district is the budget. He said he does not think the Middle Country district's tax rate is too high, but he is not convinced the district gets "the most bang for our buck right now." He wants school budget cuts to be applied "fairly across the board" within the district. "Do I think in a proposed $207-million budget that they could go back to the drawing board and try to trim some fat so there wouldn't be any cuts?" he said. "Yes. I think we could trim and get through the shortfall for this upcoming year with minimal cuts, if any."

Kristopher Oliva

BACKGROUND: Oliva, 23, will soon begin working as an aide to Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan. Oliva recently worked as an administrative assistant in networking and telecommunications at Suffolk County Community College. Oliva, who has lived in the district for 18 years, is single and has no children. He holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Stony Brook University and is pursuing a master's in public policy from Stony Brook.

ISSUES: Oliva, who was first elected to the school board in 2007, called the Middle Country district "the poster child for what's wrong with state aid" for education. He said he would advocate for a change in the formula the state uses to dole out education funding, as he believes Long Island schools are shortchanged by the state. He cited the fact that Long Island has 17 percent of students in the state, but gets back only 13 percent of state funding. Oliva touted his work as a member of a multidistrict coalition that has lobbied the state for more funding for Long Island schools.

James Pendola

BACKGROUND: Pendola, 57, has served on the school board since 2004. He is a rehabilitation assistant at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, where he is in charge of the medical transportation department. He and his wife, Toni, have three adult children who graduated from the district. Pendola has attended Suffolk County Community College. He has lived in the district for 52 years.

ISSUES: Pendola believes the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax is a "killer" for school districts, particular Middle Country. The tax, which charges employers 34 cents for every $100 of payroll, cost the district $350,000 last year, Pendola said. The tax, combined with an unacceptably low level of state education aid, has put the district at loggerheads with the state, he said. Pendola said he assisted with a letter-writing campaign in which the district sent 10,000 letters to Gov. David A. Paterson's office calling for more state aid. "The state politicians say they are not going to raise taxes, but they make us, as a school board, raise taxes," he said.

Vincent Zecca

BACKGROUND: Zecca, 61, is an assistant vice president and recovery manager for a bank. He has lived in the district for 29 years. Zecca and his wife, Diane, have four adult children who graduated from Middle Country schools. He holds an associate degree from Nassau Community College and an undergraduate degree from New York Institute of Technology. Zecca has run for school board three times before.

ISSUES:Zecca believes the district has too many superintendents and needs "qualified teachers not administrators." He proposes eliminating "high salaried administrators" to free funds to hire teachers, and he also wants to renegotiate the teacher contract. Zecca said Middle Country teachers are probably due for a pay cut. "You want the teachers to stay? It's time for them to give," he said. Zecca believes the State Legislature should look into making teachers state employees. Such a move would take the burden of paying for benefits and pension plans away from local taxpayers, Zecca said.