Oysterponds School Voters Guide 2010

VOTING

3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Oysterponds Elementary School.

THE BUDGET

The district is proposing a $5,546,865 budget for the 2010-11 school year that would decrease spending 2.06 percent from the current budget of $5,663,286.

The proposed budget calls for a tax levy of $4,937,258, a decrease of 0.44 percent from the $4,959,193 in the current year.

The owner of an average home assessed at $6,000 would pay $2,181 in taxes, compared to $2,191 this year. That is a decrease of 0.44 percent.

The budget proposal includes a 4 percent contractual raise for teachers, as well as a 3 percent step increase.

Oysterponds does not plan any cuts in services.

District website:

oysterponds.k12.ny.us

THE CANDIDATES

Incumbent Carl Demarest and challengers Deborah Dumont, Thomas Gray and Dorothy-Dean Thomas are vying for three open seats with three-year terms. Kathy Caffery and Nancy Williams are stepping down.

Carl Demarest

BACKGROUND: A lifelong resident of Orient, Demarest, 46, is a nurseryman. He and his wife, Danielle, have two children in the high school. Demarest studied for two years at SUNY Morrisville. He has served two terms on the board.

ISSUES: Demarest said he is running for re-election because he wants to have a say in three upcoming contracts - with the superintendent, with the teachers and with Greenport, which educates the district's high school students. A small district, he said, does not need both a superintendent and a special education director, when the superintendent can also oversee special education. "We need to save as much money as possible."

Deborah Dumont

BACKGROUND: Dumont, 54, is an educational consultant whose 35-year career in education includes leadership roles at a think tank and a teacher-education company. She moved to Orient in 1993. Her two children attended school away from the North Fork. A widow, Dumont was married to Jan Moor-Jankowski.

ISSUES: Dumont said in today's tough economy, "schools need to operate with less," and that she will listen to everyone in the community as she faces tough choices. The board must be "forward-thinking, intentional and thoughtful," said Dumont, who added that she has a special interest in at-risk children.

Thomas Gray

BACKGROUND: Gray, 44, has lived in the district for two years. He's the chief financial officer for a Christian medical charity that provides health care services around the world. His two children attend school in the suburbs of Atlanta. Gray has a bachelor's degree in finance as well as a master's in business administration from St. John's University.

ISSUES: Emphasizing the need for an "effective, efficient organizational structure," Gray said he wants to consider allowing older students to go to other school districts besides Greenport if they need services. He also said he wants to consider sharing services with neighboring districts to reduce costs and to discuss how to have a fair tax increase while providing programs children need.

Dorothy-Dean Thomas

BACKGROUND: Thomas, 43, a visitor to Orient since 1974, has been a full-time resident for 10 years. Her family originated in the area. She is a sales and marketing consultant, primarily for local wineries. She has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Mississippi and is pursuing a master's in English from Stony Brook University. She is single.

ISSUES: Thomas said she wants the district to have more say in what happens to students when they go to Greenport for secondary school. She said students' test scores undergo a "shocking decline" from fourth to eighth grade. "What's happening in seventh and eighth grade, and how can we be a part of solving it?" she said. Thomas also expressed concern about saving Oysterponds School, which has declining enrollment. "We need a strategic plan that does not simply involve enormous tax increases," she said.