School Board Candidate Q&A

Editor's Note: These are nine additional questions from the Meet the Candidates forum Monday that were not asked due to time constraints. The PTA Council asked Patch to publish them followed by each candidate's written response.

1. How will you address the gang activity in the middle school?
Bailey: Some steps have already been taken to address gang activity in the middle school, including the addition of an assistant principal to increase the supervision in this building. However, more must be done to make not only the middle school, but all of our schools safer, both inside and out. We need to increase the security staffing at all of our school buildings. This will allow our students to be protected both from violence within our schools and threats from outside our schools.
Farnan: The BOE recently hired a new principal, Mr. Nelson Iocolano, in the middle school. He is a former New York City Police Officer involved in the city's gang unit and is an expert in this field.  At present time, he has assured the administration and the BOE that there is no activity of this kind in our middle 
school. In fact, he communicates with the students and reminds them that if there is such activity going on in the building he wants to be aware of this. Mr. Iocolano has a program that lets his students alert him of any type of wrongdoing in the school by reporting to him either in person or by an anonymous note.
Maccarone: Security in our schools in this day and age must be a priority for our district. I believe we live in a small community where we can address this issue if it becomes a concern, head on. We need to identify the problem children and, working with our police department, the many social service providers in our community and the parents of these still growing children, to place them in situations where gang activity is not an avenue for them.

2. How do you feel about the Board's decision not to renew Kevin Wurtz's contract?
Maccarone: While I did not agree with the compensation he received, I believe he did a commendable job and if there is not a viable better option for this position, I would consider rehiring him.
Farnan: Personnel concerns and procedures is one subject that the BOE does not discuss in public.  Mr. Wurtz’s contract is due to expire at the end of the year.  The BOE voted six to one to not renew his contract.
Bailey: While I am not privy to the information that the school board had in making its determination not to renew Kevin Wurtz’s contract, I am aware that six of the seven board members voted not to renew the contract. I can only assume that they were in possession of some significant information that compelled this decision so that, feelings aside as to the state of our district’s finances, I cannot really question the board’s decision. I am, however, concerned about the process. I hope and expect that incoming Superintendent Maria Rianna was part of the decision-making process, as it is her administration that will be affected by the decision. I also hope and expect that the school board, absent an emergency, will not take action affecting any other significant positions in our district until after Ms. Rianna’s term commences.

3. How do you feel about developing talent and promoting from within?
Farnan: I am, for one, all for it when the person(s) demonstrates and has proven qualities for the job and has also gone through the proper channels. It continues to be a BOE requirement that all its members participate in this process and ask the important questions to these candidates to solidify their vote.
Bailey: When someone enters Glen Cove, as a resident or as an employee of the school district, they become part of our Glen Cove family. Being a member of a family comes with certain benefits. One of these is that family members help one another to become the best that they can be. We must take the necessary steps to make sure that these members of our family have the opportunity to develop their talents, through in-service training or other means. As to promotion, the first priority has to be to get a candidate who we are confident can excel at the open position. However, if we do our job properly in developing the talents of our district employees, we should have employees of our own ready to fulfill the responsibilities of such a position.
Maccarone: I believe our district has a wealth of talented individuals, and while on the Board previously, I supported promotion from within. Most notably, I spearheaded the push to have Dr. Israel promoted from principal to assistant superintendent.

4. What would you say to help the community feel more positive about the current budget proposal?
Maccarone: I believe the current proposal balances both the need to sustain and increase our commitment to our students and at the same time it is conscious of those concerned with ever rising property taxes. The budget balances these two concerns within a framework of an economy that has not yet rebounded.
Bailey: No one is ever happy with a tax increase, and this is particularly true in this economy. But there are positive things to be said about the current budget proposal. From a taxpayer standpoint, the budget proposal for the Glen Cove School District ranks among the lowest 25% of budget increases island-wide. From the standpoint of students and their families, this budget allows us to maintain our teachers, our class sizes and our programs. To make people more comfortable with future budgets, the school board needs to pass along data to the public (aggregate data -- nothing that would identify individual students, of course) as to the success or failure of our various school programs, so that taxpayers can evaluate the product for which they are paying.
Farnan: This current budget proposal is fiscally sound according to our independent auditors. We are not cutting any teachers; programs or any academic or extracurricular activities.  We are well within the state tax cap level of 2.42 percent. This means that an everyday household will experience only a $157 per year or 43 cents-per-day increase.

5. How do you provide transparency when you are prevented by state law from doing so?
Bailey: There are legal bars to total transparency, in the school district and in any business. However, there is no doubt that we can increase transparency between our school board and the public. School board meetings should be conducted without the use of acronyms, so that everyone at the meetings is able to understand all of the issues being discussed and able to participate in the discussion. At the least, a glossary should be provided at all meetings. Executive session should be limited to personnel issues, with all other discussion being open and before the public. Finally, school board members must make themselves more available to the public, whether through attending some PTA meetings, visiting schools, or simply being out and about in Glen Cove.
Farnan: A BOE trustee can only provide the legal amount of transparency that they are required by their obligation under the state law. I think that it is a great subject to be discussed during the next BOE retreat.
Maccarone: I believe that there has to be a concerted effort of the school board and the administration to be as transparent as legally possible. I believe the current Board has not been as transparent as possible and while previously on the board I believe I acted in a way that fostered transparency in our district. We also need to specifically define what state law mandates cannot be discussed in public. I think in some instances this state law has been used as an excuse for not discussing what in fact is legally permissible.

6. How do you suggest we repair the damage done to our reputation and restore Glen Cove's pride in its children?
Farnan: All the children in the school district have achieved great accomplishments in their own right. The administration and the BOE have to continue to recognize all of their hard work and let all know how proud we are of them.  We must move aside of the negative and start focusing on the positive and promote; promote and promote all that is good.
Maccarone: First I believe Glen Cove is very proud of our children and that despite our problems this strong community spirit has never waned. To restore our reputation we must act in a prudent and transparent manner to rectify our problems and by providing our community with a quality product and our students with a quality education we will rebound and restore to those in doubt that going to school in Glen Cove is a rewarding and valuable experience. A good school district correlates directly with increased values for the City’s property values.
Bailey: Glen Cove has never and will never lose pride in its children. However, our school district’s image and, therefore, our students’ images have been damaged beyond our borders. We must celebrate our students’ achievements publicly and in the press and in contact with colleges and businesses. There is much to celebrate over the past year. A short list would include academic successes such as the high school social studies program netting a first place award in the state’s Science Technology Entry Program in Albany, fine arts accomplishments such as a first place finish in a national competition by our jazz band and wind ensemble, athletic feats including a third place finish in our cheerleaders’ first ever national competition, and citizenship success among our Connolly K-kids who have been honored as a statewide club of distinction for the third consecutive year. This year, we had two high school students honored as top scholar athletes throughout Nassau County. These are the types of students that our school district develops and we must trumpet these triumphs throughout the county, the state and beyond. We must establish a network among our community residents, of alumni of various colleges, and employees of various businesses who will push for our students to be recognized for their talents.

7. If the budget is voted down twice, would you be willing to make cuts to programs and/or staff? Why or why not?
Bailey: This budget was developed with the success of our students in mind, and with greater financial restraint than the budgets of the vast majority of school districts on Long Island. The voting down of this budget once, let alone twice, would be devastating. That said, if this were to happen, the last place in the budget where cuts should be sought is to programs and staff. With an assistant superintendent with a long-developed understanding of our school district’s needs and a new incoming superintendent with new ideas and a vision for our community, it is important that they have the tools in place to give our students their greatest opportunity to excel. Programs should be thoroughly reviewed by the school board, together with these members of the administration before any cuts, modifications, or substitutions are considered.
Maccarone: I believe if our budget vote fails twice we need to, and I will support, cuts that balance the concerns of those worried about property taxes and our mission as a school board to provide our children with the education they deserve. As school board members, we are bound by the direction of the public. I will, however, in the coming days, work to pass our budget because I believe passing a budget is the first step to restoring people's faith in our school district.
Farnan: If the budget gets voted down twice, unfortunately we may be faced to making cuts that we will not be proud of.  The Administration and the BOE would first have to audit and review all departments to explore common sense solutions.  Until this time, it would be counterproductive to comment on what would need to be cut at any levels without proper study.

8. Do you consider a Board member having a family member(s) employed by the district a conflict of interest? Do you have any family members employed by the district?
Maccarone: First I have a cousin who is a teacher in our district and she has served in Glen Cove long before I ever ran for school board. That being said, I can see how having a family member as an employee could be a conflict, but at the same time we must act in what is the best interest of the district and thus, if one is qualified and would be an asset to our district, I do not believe that relationship alone should be a disqualification for an individual that might be a value to our community.
Farnan: It has never been posed in the past on whether a BOE member having a relative employed by the district is a conflict of interest. In fact, my wife Camille was searched out by our personnel department to assist in the Guidance Department as much needed part time clerk. She went through the entire process and channels with out any conflict. As a BOE member, all executive sessions and discussions are not shared with anyone other than my fellow trustees. Just as any capacity that Camille is involved with are not shared with anyone outside the guidance department.
Bailey: I do not have any family members employed by the school district. I think that there is certainly a potential for a conflict of interest, particularly if the family member is in a higher-level position such as a department head or above.  This could lead to undue influence being exerted on the board, or a reluctance to take a particular course of action. It could compel the individual board member to abstain from some number of votes, and create a potential for a stalemate on issues that require resolution. It would also undermine the school board’s credibility in any investigation that could touch upon that family member or the portion of the district in which the family member is employed. However, absent such an investigation, where the family member occupies another position in our district and the issue at hand does not bear directly upon that family member, conflicts are more likely to be a matter of perception than an actual problem.

9. In light of all the recent events in our school community, what is your opinion regarding the elimination of the social worker position at the middle school, which leaves just one mental health professional in the building?
Bailey: I made my statement “on the record” at a recent school board meeting, and my feelings are unchanged. This has been as emotionally trying a year for our students as any in recent memory, and perhaps nowhere more so than in our middle school. From damage to homes in the hurricane, to the stress of being made a part of a school district investigation, to the horror that took place 85 miles away in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to a “list” made by one of our own middle school students, to the tragedy involving one of our middle school students, there has been more turmoil heaped on the shoulders of our ten to fourteen-year-olds than many adults could handle on their own. Our children are in need of help dealing with these serious and traumatic issues. This is not the time to eliminate the position of a social worker in our middle school.
Maccarone: Not currently being on the Board, I have not been involved in the discussions surrounding that decision, but based upon our city's demographics and needs I believe that the need for individuals who provide these types of social services are an essential element of what we should be providing our students. Therefore, should I be elected I would support and lobby for the restoration of this position. It is definitely needed and I believe we must do more in this area to lift our students up so that they can be successful students.
Farnan: Any elimination of any position in any school is something that we are eventually going to be faced with; however, our plan to implement another position that has similar needs for the middle school can work positively for the children’s issues. We are hopeful in relying on our colleagues in the middle school and in other buildings to assist us in our plan.