The Bohemia, Greater Ronkonkoma, and Oakdale civic associations held a joint Meet the Candidates night for the four individuals running for two seats on the Connetquot Board of Education at the Bohemia Fire Department on Monday, April 29. As the Connetquot election is at-large, the candidates vie for the most votes and the top two candidates ascend to a trustee position.
The well-attended event had roughly three-quarters of the seats filled.
In the middle of the event, an active fire response was coordinated around the attendees as members of the Bohemia Fire Department boarded active fire trucks with candidates pressing on as sirens and alarms continued in the background.
Each candidate had a three-minute introduction and two minute conclusion and sat at a conference table from left to right: Melissa Torregrossa, Salvatore Napolitano, Brian Burger, and Marissol Mallon.
There were 10 community compiled questions asked the civic leaders, Milynn Concepcion for Oakdale, and DawnMarie Kuhn for Bohemia. Each candidate had two minutes to respond and questions alternated which candidate would get to respond first.
The first question asked candidates about how they, as current, or aspiring board trustees would approach the annual district budget to cohesively address costs to maximize student programs whilst mitigating costs to the taxpayer. The following are excerpts of their responses:
Torregrossa: “I would like to see more openness and honesty… I would like to know where those line items are going to specifically, there’s $1,000 here, $5,000 there, but what exactly is this going to?... Are we reassessing after one year, three year, or can we be using it more effectively… If it were not for the education I received in Connetquot, I would not be here today.”
Napolitano: “We are building apartments and those are receiving a lot of PILOTS, meaning people in apartments are not paying taxes… if our budget passes, first thing, we’re going to take a piece of the budget and ask what would happen if we had to live on austerity?”
Burger: “There are a number of line items that need to be looked at. I think we’re outsourcing a number of programs that we should take a look at and bring it back in… there are arbitrary line items like public relations, $96,000 a year? I’m not a proponent of outsourcing.”
Mallon: “It’s a big season for a board member. I know I am not a financial expert so we do rely a lot on our financial team… the state will not give us the aid we are looking for to maintain all our programs… so this year we had to make teacher cuts and its unfortunate, but declining enrollment does take part of that.”
The candidates were asked about the armed security at Connetquot schools and if they would make any recommendations to cut costs from that program and all four candidates stated they would not make cuts to security and that safety for students was paramount to them all.
Candidates were asked about what a “free and appropriate education” was for Connetquot School District in terms of LGBTQIA+ community feeling underrepresented and the berth of the New York State DEI program being imbedded into the program. The following are excerpts from the candidates’ responses:
Napolitano: “DEI is diversity, equity, inclusion, we should absolutely be diverse, everyone should get an equal and equitable education… But what we get out of education is what we put into it. This is something that falls on the parents. I don’t think CRT, using DEI as CRT, I think it hurts everyone. I don’t think students who walk into a classroom for the first time see color; if right away you start telling them right away this child has been the oppressor and this child has been the oppressed, we wind up with a really bad start. The other issue is LGBTQ+, I think that what we need to do is take more time that everyone has an equal shot at education… we all will live with each other for a lot years. There’s a lot of different people we will come into contact with and through years of military service, I came into contact with all types of people in foreign countries. I think it’s you give respect, you get respect.”
Burger: “As far as the underrepresentation of the LGBT+ community, we should have some assemblies, workshops… something inclusive that educates everyone. Regarding DEI, I also feel it should not be part of a curriculum, the three components of it by themselves, I don’t think anyone would not be in favor… when the three are combined, it becomes a socially CRT based that I am not a fan of, I don’t support.”
Mallon: “So diversity, equity, inclusion. Who doesn’t want that? We all want our children to be respected… we want our children regardless of background or identity to feel included and wanted. DEI is a curriculum, should we could go down any rabbit hole. I trust our educators to present our education to our children in an age appropriate and subject appropriate manner… The LGBT community, I also want them to feel respected and seen and wanted in our community, because they are. I was also going to say we should have assemblies where everyone comes together and we could use each others’ differences to foster that environment.”
Torregrossa: “The DEI framework from New York State doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what DEI is. It doesn’t mean that our educators will weave something additional into it but we could lose funding if we don’t meet these marks. We form that… it doesn’t mean we’re going to start teaching CRT to kindergarteners. I think CRT is well above K-12, but DEI is important, there should never any student who feels like they can’t measure up to their peers because we put barriers. As for the LGBT community, I think it’s a lot less what we’re going to do and more about what we need to stop taking away. I think it’s the language we use, the conversation we use that are just not necessary. Our LGBT students and adults all belong here… they never asked for anything special, they just wanted to be a part. I don’t think anything more needs to be brought forward, I think we need to relax and stop taking away.”
Due to space allowances, only a portion of the Meet the Candidates night could be presented in this article.
For the full video, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uF9uSYHgJ0.
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