Three vie for two school board seats in Merrick

The race for the Merrick Board of Education pits two challengers and one incumbent against one another in an at-large election. They are Joann Seibert, Gina Piskin and Maria DiCarlo.

The following provides biographies on each of the candidates.

Joann Seibert

Seibert has lived in Merrick for 17 years and has been an active member of the Merrick School District community since 1998 when her first child, Alexandra, started kindergarten at Chatterton Elementary School.

Seibert was involved in the PTA, including two years as co-president, before becoming a trustee on the Merrick School District Board of Education. She has served on the Board of Education for five years and is currently vice president. She is seeking election to her third term.

"I understand our role, and the role of the board member is to look at our community, our students, and to provide the best foundation of education, which is one of the most important things we can possibly do," Seibert said. "On the other hand, I do get that we have high taxes and people are concerned about it, and that is always in the decision-making process."

Seibert brings a professional background in finance and education to her trustee position, as well as the perspective of a parent raising three children. She and her husband, Richard, moved to Merrick when Alexandra, now in 11th grade at Kennedy, was 6 months old. Her son Rich is in ninth grade at Kennedy, and her youngest son Matthew is in fifth grade at Chatterton.

Seibert holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Hofstra University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Adelphi University and a Master of Science in education from Hofstra University. Her professional experience includes several years of high-level financial and accounting positions at major companies such as JP Morgan Bank and MasterCard International. She is a currently a faculty member in the Math, Computer Science and Information Technology Department at Nassau Community College.

Seibert said she wants to see Merrick maintain academic programs as the district faces cuts to state aid and pointed to increased scores on math and reading state tests as an indication that programs such as Apex and guided reading have a positive impact on students.

"I think we need people at this point that understand the budgeting process and understand what goes into it," Seibert said. "I do not want our quality of education to drop one bit."

Gina Piskin

Gina Piskin is seeking election to her second term on the Merrick School District Board of Education.

She has lived in Merrick for 18 years with her husband, Ray, and their three sons Alex, 11, a fifth-grader at Levy-Lakeside School, Jake, 18, and Brandon, 20.

"I’m really involved in the school community and always have been since my son started going to Levy-Lakeside in 1995," Piskin said.

Piskin got involved in the district through the PTA, first as a member and then as president. She is recording secretary of the PTA Executive Board, of which she has been a member since 2001.

"I ran [for the board] in the first place because, as PTA president and co-president, you go to board meetings, so I've been going to meetings for years," Piksin said. "I became aware of the issues, and I wanted to get involved."

As PTA president, Piskin successfully urged the board to offer a foreign language program in the elementary schools, an achievement she is proud of. She said she was also instrumental as PTA president in implementing a departmentalized program for sixth-grade students to help them transition into a middle school schedule. Once elected to the board, Piskin helped take that even further, when she and fellow board members approved a six-day school schedule.

"That gave students the opportunity to have great programs and better time management," Piskin said, noting that a six-day cycle makes it easier to fit in program-enhancing classes like technology, music, art and still meet increased state physical education requirements. "And, by the time they get to middle school, it's a six-day cycle. We are really preparing them to move forward."

Piskin said her top priority as board member is the students of Merrick Schools, but she said she is careful to weigh the needs of all Merrick residents.

"People are constantly coming to board meetings without kids in district, or without kids at all, and I always talk to them and give them my number at home," she said, adding that fiscal responsibility is an important commitment board members make to the entire community.  

"Every year that I've sat on the board, our budget has been lower than the year before -- that doesn't happen by mistake," she said.  

Piskin holds a bachelor's degree in history from Adelphi University.

Maria DiCarlo

Maria DiCarlo is a 30-year resident of Merrick, where she lives with her husband, Tony. Their two adult children, Brian, a doctor living in California, and Michelle, a nun living in the Philippines, are graduates of Birch Elementary School.

DiCarlo worked in the Merrick School District Superintendent's Office for 20 years, starting out as a stenographer and eventually moving up to become secretary to the superintendent of schools. She served as president of the Merrick Office Personnel Association for two years. DiCarlo retired two and half years ago and said she has used that time to "travel and reflect."

DiCarlo said she is seeking a first term on the Board of Education to ensure low taxes for residents, maintain property values and continue quality education in the schools.

"I want all the young families who come here to have the same opportunities my family did," DiCarlo said. "At the same time, we want to keep our taxes as low as possible."

If elected, one of DiCarlo's stated goals is to increase community involvement in the school district. "I want to encourage open communication and encourage people to attend more meetings," she said.

In addition to her experience in the school district, DiCarlo's professional experience includes five years of part-time work in a pharmacy owned by her husband, and working at Annie Sez in Merrick from 1999 to 2006. In 2004, she donated clothes and accessories for a Chatterton School fashion show. DiCarlo now works at Annie Sez in Glen Cove.

DiCarlo's husband is president of Caribbean Pharmaceuticals, based in Florida, and splits his time between there and Merrick.

"People say 'why don't you leave?' and I say, 'This is my home,'" DiCarlo said. "I want to keep the property value of my home the same."

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