Veteran candidates face off in Franklin Square

While most of the local school board candidates are running unopposed in Franklin Square and Elmont, retiree Jean Ficthl has challenged incumbent Joseph Lewinger for his seat on the Franklin Square Union Free School District Board of Education.
Ficthl, a former trustee who had served for more than 20 years on the Franklin Square School Board, lost by only a few dozen votes last year. She had originally wanted to give the new school board some space, but now she wants to go back and work to improve the district where her grandchildren attend school. Ficthl said her years of working on the Franklin Square and the Sewanhaka Central High School District boards, as well as her connections with local elected officials will work in her favor.
“I have the experience, I have the time and I’ve made a lot of contacts that I know can help our schools,” she said.
Lewinger has worked as an educator for 18 years now and currently serves as a social studies teacher and athletic director at the Mary Louis Academy in Queens. Lewinger lost to Ficthl back in 2014 before winning a seat the following year. He wanted to serve his new community after moving to Franklin Square and enrolling two of his children in Washington Street School. He said that they
had been experiencing poor health at

the time, but that they improved shortly afterwards.
“The Washington Street School did an amazing job in welcoming them, and the school gave them such a sense of normalcy,” Lewinger said.
Among their top concerns, Lewinger and Ficthl are worried about certain aspects of the schools’ environment. While Ficthl wants to integrate more technology into the school to help students get ahead in an increasingly tech-savvy world, she’s worried that an overexposure may cause more problems than solutions. She wants schools to push students on how to be responsible tech users and to avoid cyber bullying, where she says arguments and fights between students are put up online for the whole community to see.
Ficthl added that making sure the schools keep up with their security plans is another important issue, and Lewinger has spent his time on the board making sure the elementary and high school districts properly roll out their latest safety propositions. The Sewanhaka District will be adding new security doors at all five high schools and evaluating each school through its new security committee. But Lewinger is worried about failing to give students the ability to grow up in a natural environment and wants to keep a balance between safety and a fun in a proper learning atmosphere.
Both Lewinger and Ficthl currently serve as members of the Carey’s Dads Club. Ficthl also serves in the Franklin Square Civic Association.
Franklin Square residents can vote for Lewinger or Ficthl — as well as Trustee Helen Hoffman, who is running unopposed — on May 15. Residents will also vote for the 2018-2019 school budget and a proposition establishing a capital reserve, which would allow the district to renovate half the schools’ bathrooms at a cost of $1.8 million.
Elmont residents can also vote to approve their budget and to re-elect board members Patrick Emeagwali and Sheldon Meikle for the Elmont Union Free School District board. In addition, Elmont Memorial Library trustees Gina Burnett and Tammie Williams are up for re-election to the library board. All four candidates are unopposed.