Six run for three seats in Levittown

There are three seats up for election this year on the Levittown Board of Education. The district, the third largest in Nassau County, serves portions of Wantagh and Seaford.

Incumbents Peggy Marenghi, the current board president, and James Moran, the vice president, are both seeking re-election. The remaining candidates include Christina Lang, Thomas Lonergan, Ed Powers and Maria Xenios.

The candidates with the two highest vote totals will win three-year terms. The third-highest vote-getter will fill the remaining two years of Kevin Regan’s term, and would be sworn in immediately after the election. Voting will take place along with the school budget vote on Tuesday, May 17.

Christina Lang

As an educator, Christina Lang said she can bring a valuable perspective to the Levittown Board of Education. She is running for one of three seats up this year.

Lang is a Spanish teacher at Oceanside High School. She holds master’s degrees in ESL and educational leadership and technology. “I understand where teachers are coming from,” she said. “I value the input that teachers bring to the table.”

She said she is a big advocate for parents and teachers being involved in the decision-making process.

Lang lives in Levittown in the house she and her husband purchased in 2004, and her children attend Summit Lane School, where she is a member of the PTA. Her husband is a Levittown native and Division Avenue High School graduate.

The district provides its students will a well-rounded education and she would like to see that continue, saying, “I love the programs that they have there. My children are learning a lot.”

She particularly values Levittown’s Gerald R. Clapps Career and Technical Center, which provides students a path that can lead straight to a career after high school.

Lang said her biggest concerns are not with the district, but with the changes that are taking place to the education system. She regularly attended board meetings a few years ago when the state was considering moving student data to inBloom, as parents had concerns about their children’s privacy being compromised.