Meet the District 13 board candiates

Joseph DiSibio

Joseph DiSibio says his first term on the District 13 Board of Education has been a positive experience. The 45-year-old father of three from Franklin Square is running unopposed for a second term.

“It was quite an eye-opener as to how much work the board actually does,” he said of the past three years, “and what goes on behind the scenes in the school district.”

DiSibio said his wife, AnnMarie, has long been involved with the PTA. In 2004 and 2005, after the school budgets were voted down on the first try, DiSibio took more of an active role himself and used his financial background to explain the details of the budget to parents. He described himself as an unofficial liaison between the Board of Education and the PTA.

When a seat opened on the board, he was encouraged to run by his wife and others. DiSibio lost to Debra Evans, whom he would later serve with on the board. He ran again in 2007 and won.

DiSibio, an administrative officer with the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said his financial expertise has served him well on the board, especially his familiarity working with a non-profit organization. He said his goal has been to get other board members to at least look at things from a different perspective. “I think that’s what I bring,” he said. “There was nobody on the board when I joined with that background.”

The district has made progress in managing expenses and contracts with the bargaining units, he said. “We need to continue to move in that direction,” he said. “There’s always things that can be done better. New opportunities come up as you move along.”

The challenges that face the district, he said, are unfunded mandates and reductions in state aid. District 13 has no control over those areas, but DiSibio said it is better to be proactive than reactive to these challenges. “We are prepared for the bumps in the road,” he said.