Meet the candidates running for the Elmont elementary school board

The Elmont Union Free School District is gearing up for its upcoming school budget vote and Board of Education elections, set for Tuesday, May 16.
There are two seats up this year on the Elmont elementary Board of Education. The candidates include incumbents Tiffany Capers and Anthony Maffea and newcomers Angel Ramos and Patrick Dempsey.
The candidates come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, but share a commitment to serving as a representative of the Elmont community.
Here is what each of the four candidates want to bring to the table if elected this year.

Tiffany Capers
Capers is a current trustee on the Elmont elementary school board and an IT professional with over 20 years of experience in the private and public sectors.
She is an active community member who has been recognized by elected officials for her volunteerism. She has been involved in a variety of organizations such as the Girl Scouts, the Parent Teacher Association, the local civic association and the Elmont Police Activity League.
She said she hopes to continue to serve on the board, introduce new ideas and programs, and improve on existing ones.
If re-elected, she said her top priority is to rebuild the board’s relationship with the Elmont community, while supporting the district’s staff and students.
With three administrators in the Sewanhaka and Elmont school districts stepping down, a number of people in the Elmont community recently have expressed distrust in their trustees.
Capers said the only way to restore this trust is “by getting back to the basics,” which she defined as acknowledging the board’s mistakes, giving the community a chance to be heard and working together to make things right.
“These past few months have been a drain on all sides — the community is frustrated because they aren’t being heard, the staff is frustrated because they just want to get back to educating the children,” Capers said. “We must build mutual respect and work from there; our scholars deserve that.”

Anthony Maffea
Maffea has served on the Elmont elementary board of education for the past 15 years, making him one of the longest-standing trustees. In addition, he served as vice president of the Elmont board from 2015 to 2017.
He has over 20 years of experience in the banking world, specializing in budgeting, financial planning, auditing, regulatory compliance, and network and physical security.
For the last decade, Maffea has been involved in the security industry, covering large-scale events, public safety with the Town of Hempstead, and conducting Transportation Security Administration screenings for charter flights. He also has experience in location security, including video surveillance, as well as physical protection of high-value artwork and corporate equipment.
Maffea said he is a homeowner and taxpayer first, so he understands the importance of investing in education and maintaining a quality school district. His main focus is the bond referendum and continuing capital projects, such as implementing security vestibules at the school entrances.
In this day and age, Maffea said he believes schools “can never have too much security.”
“There’s an issue with people who have certain mental issues that have access to guns — my fear is that it happens in Elmont,” Maffea said. “From the security aspect of my background, I’m bringing up every scenario that I can and what we can do to protect not only the children we’re entrusted with, but our employees.”

Angel Ramos
Ramos is an Elmont resident of over 30 years with two children enrolled in the school district. Professionally, he comes from a law-and-order background. He dedicates the rest of his time to mentoring youth through boxing, organized sports and DJ workshops for kids.
He has been an adviser for the Learning for Life Explorer Program for over nine years and has assisted in drug awareness initiatives. He has also been involved in the Elmont Police Activity League.
First and foremost, Ramos said if elected, he wants to make it his mission to gain a better understanding of the school board process and those involved, and to determine areas in which trustees can do better.
He said he has a duty as a parent and Elmont resident to be more involved, not just for his own children but for all children.
“I want voters to know I too am a concerned parent that also has children who currently attend school in the district — I have vision and I’m here to listen,” Ramos said. “In the past 10 years, a lot has changed, from the students, district, staff to the demographic of the district and finances of homeowners on fixed incomes.
“The changes come with new challenges that must be addressed,” he continued.

Patrick Dempsey
Dempsey is a U.S. Marine who has been an Elmont resident since 2001. He is a father to five children and has grandchildren enrolled in the Elmont elementary school district.
He was vice president of the Parent Teacher Association for a few years at Covert Avenue School and was a scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 294.
He is a retired federal air marshal for the Department of Homeland Security and formerly worked for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Immigration and Naturalization Service for 10 years.
As a newcomer, Dempsey said he is interested in getting involved in the process and assisting the people of Elmont. He said he values transparency and an open mind, and is willing to listen to all community members.
With the rise of violence in schools, improving safety measures has become a national conversation in the education world. If elected, Dempsey said he will strive to create a safer learning environment for Elmont children.
This includes hiring a new superintendent who shares the same principles.
“(The superintendent needs to be) somebody who is for the children, wants them to learn and just make the environment safe,” Dempsey said. “And bring down taxes — I know in the proposal, we are supposed to be getting a little break for the school tax this year. I want that to continue and see if we can save money, but do the job.”