By Jeff Lipton
Richard Schurin, a lawyer in private practice specializing in intellectual property law, has filed petitions to run for the seat occupied by Diana Caracciolo, who is seeking her third five-year term on the board. "I want to run because I think the board needs an independent voice," said Schurin, who has lived in Island Park for seven years. "I think I have a lot to offer.
"I have the professional experience and the background," he added. "There should be appropriate oversight of the system, and I'm completely independent and not politically connected."
Schurin has two boys, a 5-year-old who is in kindergarten at the Hegarty School and a 3-year-old who will soon attend the public schools in Island Park. "I believe in public education and want the best education for my boys," he said.
Caracciolo, a 21-year resident of Island Park who works as a legal assistant in a Long Island law firm, has a son who went through the Island Park schools and is now a sophomore at West Hempstead High School. Her two older daughters, who took the same educational route, now have master's degrees, she said.
Caracciolo said she feels the district is "doing a phenomenal job. We have great teachers and excellent programs in our school district." She said she is running to make sure that the programs in the Island Park schools are maintained and that the tax rate remains one of the lowest in Nassau County.
Schurin said that if he is elected, he will help the Board of Education become more proactive on educational initiatives. He said that as a community member, he pressed the board to introduce foreign language at the elementary level. "I think I can offer some great ideas," he said. "I think the board could be much more creative in what they do."
Schurin has reviewed contracts for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which, he said, should give him a leg up on budget issues and negotiating teacher contracts.
Caracciolo said she enjoys devoting her time to the community and the students of the Island Park district, and that her proudest achievement as a board member has been seeing the district's vast improvement in state test scores. When she became a trustee 10 years ago, she said, many Island Park students were failing or just barely passing the fourth-grade English Language Arts exam. In recent years, the fourth-graders have done exceedingly well on the tests, she said.
"We had to do a lot of curriculum development and a lot of professional development," Caracciolo explained. "We have been able to raise academic achievement while keeping the tax rate low. Our biggest accomplishment as a board is how much better educated the kids have become."
She expressed hope that she would see more parents get involved in the schools and the community.
Schurin said there have been instances when the board could have exercised greater oversight, including the recent controversy surrounding longtime school district lawyer Nicholas DeSibio, who is under review by the state comptroller's office for allegedly collecting a pension that did not belong to him after he was listed as an employee rather than an independent contractor. "I think I can provide the oversight that is needed," Schurin said.
"Nothing was done wrong by the district," Caracciolo said of the DeSibio situation. "It's under review."
Schurin also said that the board and administration seemed ill-prepared for the community reaction to the debate over whether to send Island Park students to the high school in Long Beach or West Hempstead. The board worked out a dual contract, giving parents the option. "Ultimately the schools came up with the right decision, but the process was flawed," he said.
Caracciolo said that when emotions were running high in the community about the high school issue, which was threatening to fracture the neighborhood, she helped calm the situation. "I think I brought them back together," she said. "I told them to respect each other's opinion. My name is on the contract.
"This is unfinished business for me," she added. "We need to follow through, and I want to be a part of it."
Caracciolo said that the proposed $30.7 million budget for 2008-09, 4 percent larger than the current spending plan and with an estimated tax levy hike of almost 2 percent, "is sound - it's for the kids."
Schurin said he has attended all the district's budget meetings, and he believes the board could have trimmed the budget further. "They can do better," he said. "There's still waste."
The challenger said his race against Caracciolo is not personal, but he feels it is his time to run for a board seat. "I have a lot of respect for her," he said. "She is well-meaning. I just think that I have something to offer."
Caracciolo called Schurin "a very nice person. I have nothing against him. He's very intelligent and asks the right questions. I just think that I need to continue what I'm doing right now."
Both candidates expressed the hope that residents would turn out in large numbers to vote on May 20.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
