BOE Election Profile: Ida McQuair

Ida McQuair

McQuair, a lifelong Glen Cove resident, is running for her second term on the Glen Cove Board of Education. She was first elected in 2007 and is currently serving as the board's president. She was vice president last year. 

McQuair, 37, is also a board member of Glen Cove's Substance Abuse Free Environment, or SAFE, group. She previously worked as an auditor for the Deloitte & Touche accounting firm as well as mathematics lead replacement at Robert M. Finley Middle School in Glen Cove and Friends Academy in Locust Valley. She is currently the legislative assistant to state Assemblyman Michael Montesano (R-Glen Head). 

She holds a bachelor's of business administration in accounting degree from Hofstra University and a master's degree in mathematics from Long Island University C.W. Post Campus.  

She is married to Charles McQuair and they have two children: Charles, 9, and Vincent, 6. Charles is a second grader at Connolly Elementary School and Vincent attends the Ascent School for Autism in Deer Park. 

Patch: Why are you running for reelection to the school board?

Ida McQuair: I've worked really hard the last three years, but there are so many issues that are not quite resolved yet and I would like to be a part of resolving them. This especially applies to the tax certiorari issue in this district. That is a huge issue and I would like to take another stab at getting lawmakers and the community involved in getting this tax burden off our backs because it really hurts our budget and it's not fair.

P: How can you help to improve the school board?

IM: I'm a teacher and I have a large financial background, so I think all of that will continue to help with keeping this district fiscally responsible and focused on providing the best education for our students. By working with the school community for the past three years, I also believe I understand the concerns in the community and I know the needs of the school district, which can help when it comes time for the board to make decisions. The district is improving and I just want to continue to help with that. 

P: What programs or initiatives would you push for in the district?

IM: I want to work on programs that will highlight every student because all of our students have different talents. Every child in this district has a gift — whether it's academics, athletics or the arts — and I want to find programs that nourish these gifts and help the children excel. As a board member, I also will continue to stress to this community that we have a great school district here. This really is a fabulous district and making sure residents know all of the great things we have going on here is also a priority for me. 

P: What are your thoughts about the proposed 2010-11 budget?

IM: When you sit on a board, the consensus of the board is what drives the power on the board, not the individual. This was the toughest budget that I've worked on. The board spent hundreds of hours working on this budget together and we did the best we could. We have to be very careful because we have a fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers and a responsibility to our kids. We labored over every cut and our ultimate goal was to make decisions that would have the lowest impact on our kids. We really tried hard with this budget and we made as many appropriate adjustments that we could while keeping the taxpayer and students as a priority. 

P: You're the incumbent, so what have you accomplished this term?

IM: I never take credit for anything on my own because I serve on the board and we're a unit. But one thing I'm very happy about is this board's effort to push the honors program forward. Improving this program has been one of our goals for a while and I'm happy that we have made strides with the program. Unfortunately, the economy has delayed the full implementation of the program that we were aiming for, but we plan to work on it, and I'm pleased with the progress we have made so far. 

More Candidates

Roni Jenkins

Grady Farnan