School board candidates address district concerns

We have faced so many challenges, but to clearly identify those challenges and to come up with creative solutions becomes more imperative daily.”

Maureen Vrona, School board trustee

As the election for the Long Beach Board of Education neared, dozens of residents gathered at City Hall on Monday to hear what the candidates had to say about various issues affecting the district.

Incumbents Dr. Dennis Ryan, a retired educator and administrator who has served on the board for nine years, and Maureen Vrona, an education attorney finishing her first term, shared the stage with challenger Lori Montgomery, a former nurse at East School for 32 years.

The forum was organized by the Long Beach Central Council PTA and moderated by Kimberly Bell from the Nassau Region PTA, who posed questions to the candidates that were submitted on index cards by audience members. The questions ranged from the status of the ongoing contract negotiations between the district and the Long Beach School Employees Association to the 20-year tax break requested by developer iStar to build on the Superblock.

Montgomery promised to apply her experience dealing with children’s stresses to the work of the board. She emphasized a need to educate children physically and emotionally as well as mentally. Otherwise the curriculum would “fall on deaf ears.”

Ryan said that working in public education means finding a balance between “equity and excellence.”

“Everybody wants excellent schools — they come at a price,” he said. “If we are to maintain and provide services equitably for all our students — from children with special needs to children who are gifted and talented — we must be fiscally responsible, we must be aware of programs, we must be aware of resources and we must maintain a highly trained staff, from central administration through non-instructional.”

Asked about the 20-year tax break requested by iStar last year, Montgomery said it was important for board members not to get “mired up” in politics and to focus primarily on district students. Ryan and Vrona said they did not support iStar’s request, and Ryan reminded the audience about his trip to a hastily scheduled board meeting from Boston last year to vote against it and to register Vrona’s opposition while she was absent.

“I thought it was a Trojan horse that was laden with nothing,” Ryan said. “I said, ‘Just let them pay their fair share of taxes like everybody else.’” When audience members began to applaud, he stopped them, saying that the forum was “one of the last vestiges of civil behavior,” not a “Broadway show.”

Vrona emphasized that if iStar’s request for tax break were approved, it would negatively impact the district. “Since it’s a tax abatement, it affects the amount of taxes collected by the city,” she said, “and that directly impacts our children.”

Vrona also said it was her duty as a school board trustee to solve the district’s problems. “We have faced so many challenges, but to clearly identify those challenges and to come up with creative solutions becomes more imperative daily,” she said. “I’m your girl to do that.”

Vrona said she prided herself on having been a vocal participant on the board, “advocating for our kids, our staff and our community,” citing her active years in district PTAs and various districtwide committees. She said she is in better touch with what’s happening in the schools because she is the only trustee with a child attending a district school.

Asked about the biggest issue the district currently faces, the candidates all answered differently. Ryan said that maintaining the quality of educational programs, staff and resources, like the science lab and students’ Chromebooks, are the main concerns.

Vrona said that the issue was student engagement. “We have to get students invested in their own education,” she said, suggesting that social problems might be less abundant if students were more engaged in their studies.

Montgomery said that educators have to teach the district’s children “how to be people.” “The focus from Day One has to be on mental, physical and emotional health,” she said, “and then the students will engage.”

All three candidates supported parents’ choice to opt their children out of Common Core exams and opposed the state’s handling of the testing. “When you have that lack of confidence [in the educators] and utter failure in the rollout, you have to let it go,” Vrona said.

The candidates agreed that the Common Core exams have not proven to be beneficial for the teachers or the students. “I do think there’s a role for assessment in public education,” Ryan said, adding, “[Common Core] needs revisions.”

The district has been involved ion contract negotiation with the LBSEA workers. All three candidates said that school board members are doing the best they can to settle fairly with the union.

The district launched a disciplinary hearing last year, seeking to fire a former middle school teacher accused of abusing five of her special-education students. “We all feel bad that it is getting the publicity that it does,” Ryan said.

Montgomery called for more accountability on the part of school administrators, and said she was upset with the length of the hearing.

Vrona said, “Even as a lawyer, I’m not sure I understand all the intricacies of it.”

Sam Pinto, an education and outreach ambassador at SunPower by EmPower Solar, a local career firefighter, public safety educator and president of the Eastholme Civic Association, was the only library board candidate to attend the forum, and described himself as an “integrated advocate” who encourages residents to utilize the library as the arts and culture hub that it is.

When and where to vote

Voting will take place at the following locations on Tuesday between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.:

- West School Election District – Lindell Elementary School, 601 Lindell Boulevard, Long Beach

- MLK Center School Election District – 225 W. Park Avenue, Long Beach

- Temple Emanu-El Election District – East Elementary School, 456 Neptune Boulevard, Long Beach

- Lido/Middle School Election District – Long Beach Middle School, 239 Lido Boulevard, Lido Beach

- Point Lookout School Election District – Firehouse, Lido Boulevard, Point Lookout