By KAREN RICE
The candidates, who sat in panel form, gave opening and closing statements and answered questions from the community.
Penny Schuster, Lawrence Central Council PTA co-president, moderated the candidates' forum, with no outright objections from the audience, because the scheduled representative from the Nassau County League of Women Voters did not show up.
The candidates running for the remaining one year on Frank Argento's term are former trustee Dr. Sol Blisko, Lawrence Central Council PTA co-president Pamela Greenbaum and Prof. Asher Matathias, who teaches at St. John's University. Board president Frank Parise and vice president Kathy Raquet Barry are running uncontested for their three-year seats and gave brief statements at the end of the night.
The evening also included one heated exchange when Matathias said, We have representation from the PTA and we have a dentist on the board, how about having a teacher on the board?
Matathias was apparently making reference to Barry, a former PTA member, and Dr. Asher Mansdorf, who is a dentist.
Blisko, also a dentist, felt that it was unfair for a candidate to take shots at the others and threatened to leave if the bashing was allowed to continue. This is not fair, said Blisko, who decided against running for re-election three years ago after one term on the board. We are not supposed to be bashed. There is no reason for us to continue here if it will be like this.
After that brief exchange, there were no other real fireworks and the forum settled down.
Trustee Anthony Licatesi asked the candidates why they decided to run for the board and what goals they had for themselves.
Blisko said in his opening statement that he felt that there is some decisiveness in the community and with his previous year on the school board he was able to bring some consensus to the community. He said that he would like to have a chance again to continue in that mode. I feel I could contribute to the entire community, but I don't think anyone can promise anything drastic in a year. I do have a reputation as a consensus-builder.
Blisko later added that he mainly wanted to get the district's financial health in order because everything flows through the financial house and we have to make sure the financial house is in order.
Matathias said that he has a great deal of support from the community, with about 400 people signing a petition backing him, and he feels he would be able to bring the community together. He added that he knows how to fight for the district with the government as well, giving the district clout with government officials in efforts to restore funding.
This year seemed to be an opportunity to bring the community together, he said. I can impress the needs of the retirees. I speak several languages and I can reach out to the immigrants.
Greenbaum said that she has a great deal of expertise to bring to the board and feels very strongly that the board should watch-dog for the children above everything else.
I have a working knowledge of the district's programs, both the strong ones and the weak ones, through my steady and continuous involvement, she said. I am passionate about the children, all the children, as well as holding the administrators accountable for their actions. We can't lose sight of why we have a board of education and that's to educate our children. We need to get up those grades, those test scores. That's why we are here.
One residents asked the candidates how they would address the district's academic shortcomings and low test scores.
Matathias said he would like to see more attention paid to the immigrant population and added that as an educator he would have good insight as a board member. Why don't we have a teacher on the board? he asked. Well let's do that. I am your man.
Greenbaum felt that it is essential that the board work closely with the district's teachers and administrators to bring up test scores.
We have to hold our administrators accountable, she said. We have to have the administrators dissect the test scores and formulate plans with the teachers to find out how best to bring up the test scores.
Blisko agreed that it is important to hold the administrators responsible for the students' education but that it is not the school board's job to micro-manage every problem in the schools but rather to create discussion.
Another resident asked the candidates' opinions on the proposed $85,335,860 budget and $20.7 million bond to rehabilitate the schools.
Blisko openly said that he did not support the budget or the bond because he felt they were not responsible enough.
The budget has to include everything. If the bond doesn't get passed, we will have a problem maintaining the buildings, he said. [I do not agree with] dividing the budget and taking a chance on the bond getting passed. At this point, I do not support the budget or the bond.
Matathias disagreed and said that the budget was very responsible and worthy of the community's support.
The board and administrators have done a magnificent job on the budget and it is worthy of supporting. He added that repairs on the schools are long overdue and he also supported the bond.
Greenbaum said that she supported the budget, but felt that more money should be put into the reserves.
Yes, I do support [the budget], she said. But, there are areas where we can put more money in the reserves. We need to [fill the reserves gradually every year], and not all at once.
She added that, as a business person, she also supports the bond. The entire community uses all the buildings. We need to pass the bond.
