These West Hempstead candidates want your vote. Read about their ideas.

There are two seats up for election in this year’s West Hempstead board of education race. The election takes place Tuesday, May 16 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Incumbent Joseph Magaraci is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Barry Leon for a three-year seat. Current Trustee Vincent Trocchia is not seeking re-election. Vying for his three-year seat are David Lazar and Tom Sargent.

In Malverne, current Trustee Josephine Bottitta is running unopposed for a four-year term.

The Herald asked each of the candidates the same questions regarding their desire to seek a seat on the board of education, and their ideas and goals.

SUB: Joseph Magaraci (incumbent)

SUB: Why are you running for a seat on the board of education?

I am running for Re-Election to make sure that every child in West Hempstead can receive the best education that they deserve.

SUB: If elected, what are your top priorities?

My top priorities are to make sure that all schools are safe and secure for each child, and to sure that our school budget is fiscally responsible for the entire community.

SUB: What is your background, both professionally and personally?

I have been in the construction business for the last 43 years in every aspect starting as a laborer, to an installer, to running a window manufacturing plant in charge of 65 employees. Now I am a project manager overseeing the start and finish of major home improvement projects.

Personally, I love coaching youth programs. I started the West Hempstead Broncos Youth Football program in 2004. I have coached football, soccer, and baseball. To me, there is no better joy then seeing a child that you have coached turn into a young man or woman and see them succeed and the change that you have made in their life.

SUB: What do you want voters to know about you and your desire to serve on the board of education?

I want everyone to know that I am a lifetime resident of West Hempstead, and it gives me no greater joy then to serve this community and its children to make sure that every child has the best opportunity to succeed in life after school and in the future.

SUB: Barry Leon

SUB: Why are you running for a seat on the board of education?

As a CPA who has audited and performed accounting services for a half dozen schools, a slew of daycare centers, and many other non profit organizations, I am cognizant of the fact that all too often, budgets and implementation of spending policy is mostly rubber stamped by well-intentioned boards who don't have the resources to question those decisions.

As a senior who is cutting back on my professional workload, I now have the time to volunteer to lend my skill set to help deal with this issue.

My original job in the mid 1970s was as a licensed school psychologist, and I worked in a city hospital for a year and in a clinic in the Bronx for another two years. At that time, New York City went into budget default and there were no jobs available in schools. I pivoted to getting a third graduate degree (MBA in accounting) and taught accounting at Baruch College and joined a CPA firm.

My MS in education (school psychology) and School Psychology Certification degree, although used a long time ago, also give me some educational insights. I believe I have a lot to offer the district.

SUB: If elected, what are your top priorities?

Maintaining the best possible education for our students, while simultaneously keeping our budget rational.

SUB: What is your background, both professionally and personally?

Noted above.

SUB: What do you want voters to know about you and your desire to serve on the board of education?

Noted above.

SUB: David Lazar

SUB: Why are you running for a seat on the board of education?

I have been a member of the West Hempstead Community for over 22 years. Having had a child who graduated with a West Hempstead diploma, and having had to fight with the school board for services, I know our district is constrained by the conflict of fiscally responsible budgeting and giving the necessary services to our students.

There are more and more students entering our community that receive government-funded lunch programs. What this means is that there are lots of families in the community that are having trouble paying increased taxes and feeding their families at the same time.

Last year, when a board member discussed that the budget increase is so slight that it is only a few pairs of shoes, it upset me very much. I started to gather as much info as I could about how the district actually spends its money and learn about the parts of the budget I was permitted to see.

We need to make sure our students are given every opportunity to be successful in school and beyond, and we cannot do it when we waste money on budget items that we do not receive any better service for.

SUB: If elected, what are your top priorities?

Transparency, and taking into account the comments of the community, students, and facility.

• Student education and services.
• Minimizing wasted funds.
• Overtaxing the community.

Why?

When you overtax the community, eventually you get to a point where the community just can’t afford the new taxes and they vote down the budgets to a point where you need to make continuous cuts year after year.

This leads us to the second most important need — minimizing wasted funds allow for increased services while minimizing tax increases. Let’s stop the waste, and shrink the tax increases, which will in turn, help us better support our teachers, which we know is what is most important in order to support our students.

SUB: What is your background, both professionally and personally?

I have spent over 20 years in senior leadership in technology and operations roles. My strong points are growing people, and analyzing information to find more innovative ways to solve problems.

On the personal side, I know what it feels like to grow up with a learning disability, including not having been diagnosed with dyslexia until I was 16 years and graduating high school. I know all students have their special needs, and have their own way of learning, and therefore believe that as a community we want to help make sure that all our students and children have the greatest opportunity to be successful as an adult.

I have a child who needed services through the school and we had lots of trouble getting the proper service and had to fight really hard for them. It is these needs that I am fighting for the community.

SUB: What do you want voters to know about you and your desire to serve on the board of education?

I am passionate about helping serve the community — every student, every family, and every resident. My civic duties are important to me. As a firefighter in the West Hempstead Fire Department, I always pushed myself to help the community. I never looked at any fire call as too trivial.

I realized that I must run for school board trustee — not for myself — but for the students and residents of our community.

SUB: Tom Sargent

SUB: Why are you running for a seat on the board of education?

I am running for the West Hempstead School Board as a 26-year resident of this strong and diverse town, with three children in the public schools. I want to assist with the continued positive, upward progression of our schools. We have a lot to be proud of, and our children are fortunate to be surrounded by many caring professionals. My promise is to assist the educators and staff in this district and continue to make West Hempstead schools the best possible.

SUB: If elected, what are your top priorities?

If elected, my top priorities would be:

* Continuing the fiscal responsibility being shown by the district, which is within the tax cap for the 12th year in a row.

* Focusing on special education and mental health awareness. As we have seen in the studies released after Covid, more attention and expanded training in these areas will ensure the ability of our most vulnerable students to feel safe and secure at school.

* Continuing the upward progression of our schools academically. Our graduation rate is now at 96 percent and many graduating seniors are receiving scholarships to some of the finest college and universities in the nation, as well as access to programs with a pipeline to careers in a trade organization.

* Being vigilant about security as we see a rise in violence at schools and in the workplace across the nation.

SUB: What is your background, both professionally and personally?

Professionally, I worked for the DOT/FAA as an air traffic controller and training specialist, starting at the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center in January 1982 and then at JFK beginning in 1996 until my retirement in July 2022. As an adjunct professor at Vaughn College of Aeronautics for over five years, I taught air traffic courses and Aviation Weather.

I am a charter member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and was one of the authors of the Critical Incident Stress Program still currently being used to assist those involved in aviation incidents.

I serve on the Synod Council of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and from 1977 to 2019 held the position of secretary to the board of directors of Pinecrest Lutheran Leadership Ministries. My educational background includes a B.S. in management from St. John’s University and an M.S. in counseling from Long Island University – C.W. Post campus.

On a personal level, I have been actively involved with the district in various ways: class parent/assistant class parent, executive board of the elementary PTA, middle school site-based team, high school site-based team, secondary school site-based team, district strategic planning committee, bond committee, restructuring workshops and forums, interview panels for secondary school principal and assistant principal, district counseling advisory committee, and assisted with the most recent Senior Fashion Show.

SUB: What do you want voters to know about you and your desire to serve on the board of education?

I want the voters to know that I will do my best to be transparent, honest, and represent them in as responsible a way as possible with respect to fiscal, academic, and special education issues. I want to ensure that we continue the positive, upward trend in the education of all our school-aged children, and preserve the diverse nature of our community that led me to move here 26 years ago.