In district 13, four vie for two contested Board of Education seats

Four candidates are contending for two contested seats on District 13’s Board of Education. District 13 comprises the James A. Dever, Howell Road, Wheeler Avenue and Willow Road elementary schools. It is the largest of Valley Stream’s three elementary school districts, with nearly 2,000 students.

William Freda and Vincent Caposio are vying for the seat of Antoinette “Toni” Pomerantz, who has been a trustee since 2013 but decided not to run. Freda made an unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent Patricia Farrell in 2020. Caposio is running for the first time.

In the second contested race, Michael Morin is challenging incumbent Milagros Vicente, who is seeking a third term on the board after serving for six years. Morin ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Gerardo Cavalieri in 2020.

The Herald sought to provide the candidates with the opportunity to explain their platforms and discuss their ideas for progress and change. We interviewed them by phone and email, and their responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Vicente vs. Morin

Herald: Why did you decide to run? 

Milagros Vicente: I am seeking re-election as a school board member because I am committed to seeing through the goals set by the school board, our staff, and the community. I will continue to bring an informed perspective to the board. My priorities are to ensure that the board articulates a clear vision for a well-rounded education for our children, one that balances high-quality instruction with the community’s financial ability to support such a vision. I believe an effective school board must create a culture of learning, adapt and evaluate policies, and create avenues to be more transparent and listen to all stakeholders.

Michael Morin: My motivation for seeking office is to break away from the mindset of wasteful spending and higher taxes.

Herald: What, if anything, would you like to see changed regarding school district policy and procedures?

Vicente: I would like to see greater transparency and communication between the board and our community. I value all stakeholders’ opinions before making an informed decision. I will advocate and propose that the board create a Community Advisory Committee, which would provide the board with feedback from all stakeholders. It should also reflect the demographics of the community.

I will encourage and support our superintendent to find additional ways to communicate and engage with the community. I would also work with the board and administration to find fiscally responsible ways to provide support to our district support staff. Our support staff is instrumental in providing our children with the support they need to flourish in the school setting. We must do better by them.

The social and emotional learning skills of our children continue to be a major concern for our district. The board has established provisions for student support services such as conflict resolution, mediation, counseling, and restorative practices that support all involved. I will continue to encourage our superintendent to find innovative tools and strategies that will support SEL. Positive self-image, mindful communication and culturally responsive practices support the whole child and prevent potential tragedies.

Morin: I believe it’s shameful that people are appointed to positions and then neglect the very community in which they are supposed to serve. I have a strong opinion of public servants who make broken promises, who aren’t transparent with the taxpayer or are plain ineffective in repairing our children’s educational system. I find the expenditure of $2.3 million for the construction of new administrative offices disturbing, neglecting the needs of our children and our community, no less. Bottom line: Let’s be fair to the people who spend their hard-earned money on taxes and improve our community, and place some checks and balances on our officials and on wasteful spending.

Herald: What educational programs or initiatives would you like to see continue or expand?

Vicente: I would like to expand our pre-K program. I am committed to increasing pre-K access for more families. Working with our administration, I will explore fiscally responsible ways to deliver additional pre-K options for our families.

Additionally, the transition from our elementary school to high school can be challenging for both students and families. Collaboration of both school boards is an integral part of ensuring that the experience for children and families is seamless. I will work to ensure that close collaboration between districts is expanded and continued.

Advocating at the state and federal levels plays an incredibly important role in our children’s education. I will ensure our voice is heard for additional funding from the state. Our students and taxpayers deserve more. Advocacy at the federal level is a must so that our children with special needs receive an appropriate, inclusive and equitable education. I will lend my voice to advocate that the federal government fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Morin: It’s not fair that parents and taxpayers in the Wheeler School zone are no longer providing kindergarten, which was once offered for decades. I also want to see that all families have access to pre-kindergarten with no restricted availability of spots and no more lottery system.

Freda vs. Caposio

Herald: Why did you decide to run?

Bill Freda: Priority No. 1 is to control out-of-control spending. For this year’s budget, the board and superintendent want to increase spending by roughly 5½ percent. Every dollar spent on the budget is tax money, be it from real estate taxes, income taxes or sales tax. That’s where the money comes from, and so the 5 percent spending hike is absurd. People’s budgets are being hammered by grocery price shock, and naturally, gasoline is up. With families experiencing a squeeze in their budgets, this is not the time to go on a spending spree in the school district. It’s absurd. It’s just unconscionable.

I’m also running in response to the fiasco at Dever where the school board told residents a year ago that they would renovate the business office and use capital reserve funds to fund the renovation. The voters narrowly said yes, but the superintendent and several incumbent board members failed to mention on the ballot the new wing to be built on the Dever building, the new office for the superintendent, a new toilet, private lunchroom, all items not specified. It’s all unrelated to educating children. I object to the illegality; I object to the deception and the deceit.

Vincent Caposio: I have two children. My daughter is currently in kindergarten and my son will be joining the school district in 2023. I have also come to know plenty of families who have children in the district. I want to help them all have the best educational experience possible. I feel I can be an asset by helping to improve transparency and communication between the board and parents and taxpayers, recognizing and prioritizing parental rights and choice, developing efforts to increase community involvement, and being fiscally responsible. I don’t see myself as a politician, but rather as a district parent looking to get involved in the community.

Herald: What, if anything, would you like to see changed regarding school district policy and procedures?

Freda: I would change the backward dynamic of the district budget process, where the administrators, many of whom aren’t residents of the district, are putting together the budget and throwing it in front of the board. It should be the other way around. The board should put together the budget. And this requires a greater lead time than what exists now. Now the administration makes presentations to the board members and the board members nod their heads, and that’s the budget.

I would also like to bring kindergarten back to the Wheeler Avenue School. Right now, if you live in the Wheeler attended zone, there is no kindergarten for your child. Children are bused to Franklin Square for kindergarten. As a result, some families don’t bother sending their kids to kindergarten, either because they don’t feel comfortable putting them on a bus or don’t want to drive them to school.

Wheeler is the largest school building, and can easily put three kindergarten classes there. This would eliminate busing for roughly 70 children from Valley Stream to Franklin Square and make life much simpler for parents who have multiple kids in Wheeler.

Caposio: I think members of the community have been pretty vocal about prioritizing parental rights and choice. I believe each parent knows what is best for their child, and I want to ensure parents maintain that right. I also think it is important to provide services for children who have pandemic-related learning deficits. Pandemic responses like remote learning and masking have led to setbacks for many children, especially those with speech delays and learning impairment. No child should be left behind because of these failed government policies.

Herald: What programs or initiatives would you like to see continue or expand?

Freda: The district no longer offers remote learning for parents, and I want to bring it back. We know how to do remote learning. There are certain families with situations where they need a remote learning environment, and the school district is not providing it. I also want to push for the curriculum to be available online, so that if a student is absent, they can pick up exactly where they left off and not really fall behind.

Caposio: Currently, for pre-K we have a lottery system, and only a few children are selected each year. I think it is extremely important to offer pre-K for all children and families in our district. Now, more than ever, parents need to go back to work. By expanding our pre-K program, we can help parents pay their bills while ensuring their children are getting an early start on quality education and socialization.

Have an opinion on this article? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.