Meet the sole candidate for the Bellmore School District Board of Education

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Jay Breakstone

 I have served on the Bellmore School Board since 1997 and am currently its vice president. I have used my skills as an attorney while chair of the board's Legislative Committee.

I was a former president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, representing all of Long Island's children, and have received many awards for my school board service, including the prestigious New York State School Boards Association, Lifetime Achievement Award, the SCOPE Education Services, Outstanding School Board Services Award and an Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from the New York State Council of PTAs. In recognition of my expert on-air commentary, News12 Long Island presented me with its “Speaking Out for Long Island Schools” award.

The reason I am a school board trustee is simple yet complex. When you serve on a school board for any length of time, you begin to think of all the children in the district as your children — you want the best for them. The difficult part is balancing that desire with the realization that the money you spend is not your own — it belongs to other people; that’s why they call us “trustees.”

The eternal question when you serve on a school board is, “what do my children need and what can my neighbors afford?” Though many think being a school board member is a “thankless” job, I disagree. I get my thanks on the first day of school as the kindergarten children get off the bus and on the last day of school when the sixth-graders graduate. That’s all the thanks I need. 

Editor’s note: Breakstone is running unopposed.