By:Robert Remler
May 15 voting day for VS school-board seats
Though few residents attended candidates' night in two Valley Stream elementary school districts last week, the competitors for school-board seats themselves had plenty to say about what they'll do if elected on May 15.
Competition in District 24
Two of District 24's five candidates are incumbents seeking another term. The senior member of District's 24 board is Anthony Iadevaio, who served as president this year.
Iadevaio said one of his contributions to the district was implementing the full-day kindergarten program that is scheduled to begin next year. He also considered the district's commitment toward smaller class sizes another accomplishment. "When you start kids at an early age, then kids that go into the first grade can succeed."
Iadevaio now sits on the high school board. He has served as a school board trustee in Valley Stream for 21 years.
Frank Nuara, the district's other incumbent candidate, said issues besides standardized tests faced elementary school children. Nuara said that meeting the standards is more important to district administrators than having students simply take tests. He said much work remained to be done in the district and cited a determination to keep class sizes below 30 students.
In addition to seeking re-election, Nuara is the president of the High School District Board of Education. He has been a member of the District 24 School Board since 1992 and served as president during the 1997-98 school year.
Lawrence Trogel made his first appearance as a board candidate last week. Trogel emphasized the importance of full-day kindergarten in his opening remarks. The earlier students acquire reading skills, the better they will do in their later years, he said. Early implementation of reading skills would reduce the need for remedial help in the intervening years, he said.
Michael Belfiore previously served as a trustee in District 24 for one term up until 1999. At Candidates Night, he said that he was the district's first board member who raised the issue for the need to improve standardized test score results. Belfiore said his past participation on the board helped to unify curriculum in the three elementary schools.
Ronald Uzenski is making his third run at a seat since 1998. In opening remarks he said acts of nepotism in the district needed to cease. If elected he would make the board's meetings more open to the public and attempt to make the board more independent and diverse.
Three candidates, two seats
District 13 is offering the community three candidates competing for two trustee positions in next week's school board elections.
Only Karl Lunan, one of the three candidates is running unopposed. Lunan was appointed to the position following the resignation of Al Chase. He is running unopposed because Nancy Viggiano, the board's president decided not to seek another term.
Bonnie Gorham and James Tsaveras are running for the first time for the second available seat.
Bonnie Gorham a resident of the District 13 community for 15 years, said that her involvement with schools began when her daughter was enrolled in kindergarten. She told the sparse audience that she had been a member of the James A. Dever School PTA for eight years.
"Education and the community are closely aligned," she said. If elected she promised to work in partnership with current board members.
Gorham has experience working with various school committees and participating in teacher selection interviews.
Gorham said that District 13's ambition to improve scores at both Howell Road and the Forest Road Schools, should be seen "as a work in progress."
James Tsaveras a resident of District 13 for 35 years, was also making his first attempt to win a school board seat. Tsaveras grew up in the district attending Howell Road School and Valley Stream North High School.
Tsaveras focused his opening remarks on the issue of school security. A recent bomb scare at the James A. Dever School and notification that residents received about a sex offender were the two issues that concerned Tsaveras.
Tsaveras called himself "a hands on type of guy," who would give a voice to area residents. Tsaveras said he was qualified to serve on the board because of his experience working with budgets.
If elected, Tsaveras said he would listen to what the children and parents had to say. "The children are the strength of our community. We should give them every opportunity to succeed in this growing world that is so fast paced."
Karl Lunan, appointed to a seat last year, was running in his first election unopposed. Lunan, Valley Stream's first African-American school board member, said he wanted to make sure that space was being fully utilized inside the schools. Lunan is in favor of expanding schools, if enrollment required more classrooms.
Lunan told The Herald that he gives his time to the board because he likes the community and working with children. A resident of Valley Stream since 1996, Lunan urged the district to continue on its path to meet the new state standards. "Giving it more time will be the answer."
