Two seek Pinto's seat in N. Merrick

In this year's school election, two newcomers are seeking the Board of Education seat being vacated by longtime Trustee John Pinto. They are George Haile and Anthony Vitale.

The following provides biographies of the two candidates.

George Haile

George "Skip" Haile is a lifelong North Merrick resident. After meeting his wife, Sheila, at Manhattanville College and briefly living in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the pair bought the house where Haile was raised. Together, they are bringing up their children, Cole, 11 a student at Camp Avenue School, and Nicholas, 15, a student at Calhoun High School.

"I want to give back to the community I grew up in," Haile said of his reason for running for the board, noting that, if elected, he would bring both experience volunteering in the community and a business background to the position.

Haile has been an active member of the community through Merrick Police Athletic League Soccer since 1998, starting as a coach and ultimately becoming commissioner. He is also active with the Calhoun Sports Boosters.

"I was just one of those dads helping out," Haile said. "The wins and losses aren't the results. It's the smiles, the friendships they're having. That's why I did this."

Haile has had a longtime career in finance as a controller and as an event planner in the medical industry, working with multi-million-dollar budgets.

"It is a huge balance to see that the kids get what they deserve and the North Merrick residents can afford to stay here," Haile said.

As a trustee, he said he would like to set up a reserve fund for students to ensure programs such as WINGS, theater arts, music and others are protected during difficult economic times.

"You always can put something away; you have to plan, you have to have an agenda. I'm not talking about big money," he said.

Haile also said he would like to look at the infrastructure and facilities in the North Merrick Schools.

Haile said he is able to work from home and also recently set up a Travel Soccer Board that allows him to share many of the PAL responsibilities he previously took on. He said this new schedule would offer a great deal of time to devote to the school board.

"Being here for over 40 years, I've seen a lot of wonderful things in this town, and I want to continue them," Haile said.

Anthony Vitale

Anthony Vitale moved to Merrick with his wife Jana in 2001. Their son, Ethan, 5, started Camp Avenue School this year.

Vitale is a high school teacher in the Locust Valley Central High School District ,where he teaches English and philosophy. Before Locust Valley, Vitale began his teaching career in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, where he taught from 1996 to 2000. In 2008, Vitale was nominated by his district as Nassau County Educator of the Year, and was also one of 26 teachers statewide to be named a Teacher of Excellence for English.

He has a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Brooklyn College and a master's in English education from New York University, as well as certificates in School Building Leadership and School District Leadership from Long Island University.

Vitale is a member of the North Merrick Community Association and participated as a member of the North Merrick Lay Budget Committee that examined the 2010-11 proposed School Budget.

"I know how schools work and I know how school budgets work," Vitale said, adding that he built the Locust Valley English Language Arts budget.

"I think the challenge we are going to face is figuring out how to maintain the excellence we have in North Merrick schools while managing costs," he said.

As a board member, Vitale said he would work to see programs such as guided reading and Envisions math maintained, and would like to see the co-teaching model expanded.

"I'm not running because I want to change things so drastically," Vitale said, "but because we have something so special here."

Vitale said his experience on the lay budget committee inspired him to run. He said he was impressed by the administration and the board's commitment to quality education, and said he felt as a board member he could add a voice to conversations that affect the community.

"This is another avenue to do what I think I am meant to do: Work with children," Vitale said.

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