Byrne, Paccione vying for Island Park School Board

With longtime Board of Education member Steven Foster stepping down at the end of his term, Island Park has a vacant seat up for vote on May 15. Two residents, Tara Byrne and Matthew Paccione, are both running for Foster’s vacant seat.

Tara Byrne

The 47-year-old Byrne has been an Island Park resident for 10 years and has two children in the school district.

Byrne, a stay-at-home mother, is a past-president of the Island Park PTA, working with the group to help grow its membership. She wants to take the skills she learned and utilized as PTA President and bringing them to the Board of Education.

“I want to make a difference for the children of the community, to ensure that they’re getting the best possible education by making sure that we’re following the New York State Common Core Standards and that we are utilizing all of our learning assets to their fullest,” said Byrne. “Having two children who are currently enrolled in our schools plugs me in to the process and gives me the perspective to look at what and how my children are taught.”

As PTA President, Byrne revamped the district’s Boxtops for Education program, taking the money earned and reinvesting it in the schools by buying gift certificates for teachers at Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School to various education websites so they could purchase supplies for their classrooms. She also initiated a program so that when people purchase gift cards at local stores, the PTA would get a percentage of the purchase. That money was used to fund activities for students, such as school trips. Byrne also started and constructed the school store.

“I’m also running for the hard-working taxpayers of Island Park,” Byrne said. “Being a taxpayer in this community, I feel first-hand the impact our taxes have on my household budget. With out-of-control, unfunded state mandates, coupled with the 2 percent tax levy cap, I will critically look at all the expenditures to ensure that we are getting the best bang for our buck without sacrificing the instructional integrity of our educational programs.”

Matthew Paccione

Paccione, 26, was born and raised in Island Park and has a long family history in the area: his mother’s family settled in the area in the 1950s, while his father’s side of the family has lived in Island Park since 1928.

While Paccione does not have children in the district, as a recent product of the Island Park School system, he has an intimate knowledge of the district. That knowledge is strengthened by the time he spent as a substitute teacher in the district, where he also did his student teacher for his education degree.

“I have walked the halls of our schools and I was educated in our classrooms,” Paccione said. “I have taught our children. I know firsthand that an education received in the Island Park Schools is a wonderful foundation for future successes in our competitive world. I know what our kids need from our District.”

Paccione is a face that many will recognize. He is employed in the Island Park Public Library as a clerk, and he also works as a Community Liaison for New York State Assemblyman Brian Curran. He is also the financial manager for his father’s business, Paccione & Sons Landscaping Design, Inc. Paccione, a new York State Certified history teacher, is also attending Fordham University, graduating in a few weeks with a Masters Degree in Political Science.

He has served as a religious education instructor and lector at Sacred Heart Church for 10 years. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and also volunteers for many local charities and events.

“As a certified teacher, I understand the need for the continuing expansion and improvement of our District’s Education Plan, while fighting for our fair share of school revenues from the State and eliminating unfair and unfunded mandates that hurt our residents’ wallets and our children’s future,” Paccione said. “Working with our legislators I have brought my concerns to them regarding these mandates and taxes.”