Maria Mosca plans to advocate for the North Shore

Maria Mosca is running for reelection to the North Shore School District’s Board of Education, aiming to continue her work in supporting the district’s educational programs and navigating its financial challenges. Mosca, 65, a retired director of student information systems, resides in Sea Cliff, with her husband and their eighth-grade daughter.

Mosca, who is completing her first term on the board, said that she believes she can leverage her experience and knowledge to help the district through its financial difficulties, particularly the loss of Long Island Power Authority tax revenue. Mosca emphasized the importance of maintaining stability and fiscal responsibility while preserving the district’s strong educational programs.

“The more I worked with our teachers and, in particular, our administration, the more I realized what a great place this is,” Mosca said. “I really do feel strongly that these children are our future leaders, and how we support them now in becoming aware and active and thoughtful world citizens is only going to benefit every single member of the community.”

Her involvement with the North Shore community began when she moved to Sea Cliff nine years ago and quickly became active in volunteer work at the Sea Cliff School, eventually managing the school garden for seven years.

Mosca highlighted the challenges facing the district, including the loss of LIPA tax revenue and its impact on local taxpayers. While she said that it was important to keep the students needs at the forefront, she acknowledged the importance of balancing that with the financial pressures in the district, from the LIPA loss to rising levels of inflation.

“The major issue is how we move forward facing the tax losses that we’re facing,” Mosca said. “One of the most important considerations is how we balance supporting our students with not overburdening the taxpayer any more than has already happened because of circumstances beyond our control.”

She also stressed the importance of exploring creative revenue-generating ideas and advocating for state assistance. Mosca has been involved in the district’s legislative action committee, working to lobby state and county representatives for more support.

“The big challenge, the biggest challenge of all, is working with our legislators on this effort that seems to be getting underway to review the formula for awarding state aid,” Mosca said. “The people who live here, I would say the majority of them, are not uber-wealthy. We need the state to understand that this district, one of the shining stars of Long Island, is at risk and must have more reliable, stable, long-term help.”

In addition to her focus on financial issues, Mosca also praised the district’s educational achievements and highlighted the district’s commitment to academics and extracurricular activities, which she vowed to continue supporting.

“We have a phenomenal faculty, our teachers are dedicated, and many of them are members of our community,” she said. “We have built a phenomenal program. We are strong in the arts, our special education services are unparalleled, and our extracurriculars are extensive.”

Mosca credits the district’s success to its dedicated staff and administration, who she said she has come to deeply admire after working closely with them during the past three years.

“We have a dream team at the head of our administration right now,” she said. “They are completely dedicated, highly intelligent, skilled at what they do, and great educators and professionals.”

Overall, Mosca says her candidacy for reelection is rooted in her commitment to maintaining the district’s high standards of education while navigating its financial challenges. She plans to continue advocating for the district’s needs at the state level and exploring creative solutions to preserve North Shore’s programs and services.