Meet your Oceanside and Island Park board candidates

When residents go to the polls on May 17 to vote for the school district budget, they will also have the opportunity to vote for members of their Board of Education.

Three seats are up for election in Oceanside, and all three incumbents — Donald Maresca, Sandie Schoell and Mary Jane McGrath-Mulhern — are running unopposed.

In Island Park, incumbent Jo-Ellen Sarnelli is stepping down from her seat and Nina Hargrove is running unopposed to replace her.

Donald Maresca

Maresca is running for his fourth term on the Oceanside Board of Education.

A longtime resident and employee of the district, Maresca has been in Oceanside for decades. He started working in Oceanside in 1967 as the assistant principal of School 8. He was the principal of School 1 before it closed, an associate principal at Oceanside High School and spent 15 years as principal of School 2.

He is also involved in other community organizations, including the Knights of Columbus and Oceanside Community

Service.

“During my 33-year career in Oceanside, my No. 1 priority has always been it’s children,” Maresca said. “I believe that my many years of educational experience and community service will enable me to continue to be an effective and community-minded member of the Oceanside Board of Education.”

Sandie Schoell

Schoell is running for her third term on the Board of Education because, as she said, “it’s what I love to do.”

“I feel it’s my obligation as a volunteer to give back to my community, and this is the best way I can do it,” said Schoell. “So that’s why I do it. I love the community and I want to keep it the way it is — a great place to live and raise a family and educate kids.”

Schoell, a resident of Oceanside for more than 30 years, has raised two boys in the community and sent them to Oceanside Schools. She has been active with various PTAs for two decades and has been on the steering committee for Dawn Delirium — the district’s post-prom party — for more than 15 years.

She is also active in the community. Schoell is on the Board of Trustees for Kiwanis, is active in the Kiwanettes, and is the Secretary for Oceanside Community

Service.

Schoell said that she wants to make sure that current and future Oceanside students have the same opportunities her sons had while keeping things fiscally responsible for residents.

“The truth is, we have to delicately balance what’s good for our citizens,” said Schoell. “We can’t milk them dry. And we do that. I believe we do that.”

Mary Jane McGrath-Mulhern

McGrath-Mulhern is running for her second term on the board.

“[I’m running] because I believe in the high standard of education that the Oceanside School District has,” she said. “And I believe we need to maintain the high standard but keep it fiscally responsible.” McGrath-Mulhern, an attorney with her own law practice, has been an Oceanside resident for about 20 years. A former litigator before she started her own practice, McGrath-Mulhern brings an understanding of not only law, but also of various businesses to the board.

And while many of the board members had kids go through the school system, she also currently has students in Oceanside elementary schools. “I’m living the new math program right now through my children,” she said.

“So I do understand the parents’ concerns from living it day-to-day in my life,” said McGrath-Mulhern. “So I believe that is extremely beneficial to have that on the board.”

Nina Hargrove

The only candidate running in Island Park, Nina Hargrove is seeking out her first term on the Island Park Board of Education. A life-long Island Park resident, Hargrove will be replacing Jo-Ellen Sarnelli on the board.

“I’m running because I feel we’re coming into some hard times in Island Park with the LIPA plant and we’re going to have a lot of tax problems,” said Hargrove, referring to LIPA’s challenge of the assessment of the Barrett Power Plant, which makes up the majority of the school district’s tax roll. “And I just want people to better understand and maybe come out and get more active, and hopefully do something about it. Nobody’s coming out. Everybody’s talking, nobody’s doing.”

Hargrove is a former school district employee. She worked for 37 years as the Director of Island Park Recreation, retiring from the position two years ago. She’s had three children go through the Island Park School District.

“I was hoping that, being on the school board, I could be an asset to [the board] because I have the time to be there,” she said. “And there are a lot of important issues coming up.”