School districts must have control over rising personnel costs, and therefore the Triborough Amendment should be repealed to allow school districts to freeze salaries once a contract expires. This will create an incentive for negotiation, where the school district and the teachers can negotiate a contract that makes sense given the current financial circumstances.

What do you think is the

district and what will you do to combat it?

O’Shea: I think the biggest issue facing the Rockville Centre School District is how to increase individual student achievement with all the fiscal challenges we face. As a member of the School Board, I have and will continue to focus on the fiduciary responsibility that has been entrusted to me by the citizens who elected me. With the budget challenges of unfunded mandates, I will ask our citizens to rally with me to have our legislators reform unfunded mandates. I will continue to look for savings in each and every line of future budgets. Over the last three years, my role on the School Board has resulted in millions of dollars in improvements to our school district, with no additional cost to the taxpayer. I have been instrumental in saving the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars while preserving our classroom programs. I believe it is our responsibility to provide an education that will enable our children to achieve success in their future. If we don’t provide the avenue for success now, we as a society will pay dearly for it in the future.

Rubino: The biggest issue facing our school district is the fiscal crisis caused by our rising school taxes. The school taxes deter young families from purchasing homes and are a major cause of concern for our retirees who struggle to stay in the village where they’ve raised their families.