2007 BOE Elections

[78ptownpower]

Ms. Giris is an outstanding candidate whom I am aquainted with.
She has kept me abreast of some issues that she knew would be important to me.
For that, I thank her and her husband. She attends every board meeting.
A very, very solid candidate. Most importantly, she is able to researh things and think for herself and will not be swayed by a svengali in the Richman mold.

Nancy has my vote. One of the very best of p-town!

MN
Class of '78

[Go Plainedge!]

Is this the person that was asked to no longer be a part of the Eastplain PTA?

Maybe I'm confusing her with someone else, but I think it may be her.

[balanced]

Good day,

I am Dennis Gustafson and I am the other candidate running for the BOE. I have spent the past 60 minutes reviewing a lot of the posts and I can definitively say that I am a much more informed candidate than I was an hour ago. Clearly the participants of the bulletin are both knowledgeable and passionate about both the BOE process and the needs of the community.

I suspect I will have a lot more opportunity to answer any specific questions you have during these next 2 weeks. To start, here is a brief summary of myself, my background, and my platform:

- 40 year old resident of Plainedge for 12 years
- Married with three kids. Megan 9 (in Schwarting), Matthew 7 (in West), Kyle 2.5 (in trouble).
- I have been on the board of the PTA (SEPTA) for 4 years, the president the last 2 years
- Coach of Matthew's PAL basketball team. I can always also be seen at Matt's baseball or soccer games.
- Currently work for NASDAQ and have had positions for 10 years where I have managed all aspects of budgets (up to $650M)

Basic platform:

1) Negotiate a balance between the second-to-none educational experience our children get with fiscal responsibility

2) Make every effort to improve the lines of communication between the BOE and the community (I hope this is a start)

3) Work with legislators on the local and state level to ensure that Plainedge receives the appropriate percentages of state aid.

On a side note, I also believe that sometimes it is just as important how you deliver your message as is the content of the message. I have found that at times in the past that while I have agreed with some of the decisions made by the current administration, I feel that the way they deliver that message has resulted in a polarizing effect, which is not productive.

I feel this is a good start and as time allows, will be responding to any questions on this post.

[patriot2415]

Dennis,

Welcome and thank you for joining the community here.

I hope your "balance between the second-to-none educational experience" means you understand that the community wants a well rounded ( academics, sports, clubs, special ed and gifted programs) education for our children. Over the past years this community has endured much. What we want is for our children to have the same advantages as neighboring districts. What we need is for some additional funding to come from the operational, and compensation side of the sheet.

As I have posted numerous times, the children have taken a hit over the past 2 years with program cuts. The residents have taken a hit with taxes. In a true partnership we need the teachers union and administration to do their part.

You are correct, this is an excellent step for improved communication. Something we were promised last year but was stifled.

We on the forum and the community would like to know you better and we look forward to reading your comments and ideas.

[balanced]

Patriot,

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I do believe that the experiences our children should achieve at school include education, sports, extra curricular, special ed, gifted programs, etc.

The reason I highlighted the second-to-none educational experience is that I am so proud that Plainedge continues to rank amongst the top 10 academic performing school districts in Nassau both in overall performance and in the 4th and 8th grade standardized Math and ELA tests. I feel these are areas where not only are we at the same advantage as our neighboring districts, we far exceed them, and I want to work to continue that trend.

Can you help me with a little more details on how the communication with the community was stifled? This is an issue that is very important to me and I am curious as to the forthcoming road blocks.

Thanks again and I hope to see you all Monday for the met the candidate night.

[patriot2415]

Hi Dennis,

When I inquired about BOE members meeting with the community outside of official BOE meetings I was told the following by the President:

1: the BOE members felt there was enough access to them by the community during BOE meetings, via email, phone calls, in the supermarket, and on the fields.

a. I agree that BOE members put in a tremendous amount of time
b. what I was looking to accomplish was to have community meetings with those we elected not weekly, or monthly, but at times when we the community thought we needed conversations without the administration present.

2. Regulation prohibit such meetings

3. It is in the Superintendents contract that the BOE cannot meet with the community without his/hers presence. you can get the exact wording from the BOE president.

[Admin]

balanced said:

Good day,

I am Dennis Gustafson and I am the other candidate running for the BOE. I have spent the past 60 minutes reviewing a lot of the posts and I can definitively say that I am a much more informed candidate than I was an hour ago. Clearly the participants of the bulletin are both knowledgeable and passionate about both the BOE process and the needs of the community.

I suspect I will have a lot more opportunity to answer any specific questions you have during these next 2 weeks. To start, here is a brief summary of myself, my background, and my platform:

- 40 year old resident of Plainedge for 12 years
- Married with three kids. Megan 9 (in Schwarting), Matthew 7 (in West), Kyle 2.5 (in trouble).
- I have been on the board of the PTA (SEPTA) for 4 years, the president the last 2 years
- Coach of Matthew's PAL basketball team. I can always also be seen at Matt's baseball or soccer games.
- Currently work for NASDAQ and have had positions for 10 years where I have managed all aspects of budgets (up to $650M)

Basic platform:

1) Negotiate a balance between the second-to-none educational experience our children get with fiscal responsibility

2) Make every effort to improve the lines of communication between the BOE and the community (I hope this is a start)

3) Work with legislators on the local and state level to ensure that Plainedge receives the appropriate percentages of state aid.

On a side note, I also believe that sometimes it is just as important how you deliver your message as is the content of the message. I have found that at times in the past that while I have agreed with some of the decisions made by the current administration, I feel that the way they deliver that message has resulted in a polarizing effect, which is not productive.

I feel this is a good start and as time allows, will be responding to any questions on this post.

Thank you Dennis for sharing your thoughts. Please don't be a stranger here and good luck!

If anyone is in touch with Ms. Giris, please ask her to join our discussion. It would be great for her to let us know her thoughts and platform in a more informal setting as well.

[Go Plainedge!]

Dennis:

Welcome and thanks for chatting with us.

My problem with the communication with the community is not only on the BOE level but on the administration level.

On 4/24/2007 there was a post created on the school website by claplier about the budget newsletter's availability. If you didn't check the website on your own, or have someone tell you about it, you would never have been aware about the newsletter. There was NO email blast sent out announcing the budget newsletter. It has yet to be received at any of the homes (or at least at my house).

If the BOE and Administration are confident and proud of the budget they created why wouldn't they want to announce it to the community by any means possible? It seems like it's a big secret. The Massapequa post has had articles on Massapequa's and Farmingdale's budgets. Why not ours? Is it because we are one of the highest increases on the island that we don't want anymore publicity about that?

This newsletter should have been in the mail to gain support by April 25th. There is a big senior contingency in Plainedge. I would venture a guess that they don't have internet access. So, to this point in time, they probably have no idea what they are voting on in two weeks. It shouldn't be that way.

The BOE has been told for years that communication is key. It has shown some improvement but is a far distance from where it should and needs to be.

[plainedgeammo]

Dennis,

Thanks opening the lines of communication. I am just curious where were you during the budget hearings? I would think that if you were planning on running for a seat on the Board of Education you most certainly would have been a vocal and integral part of the discussions? I apologize if you did attend them.....I just don't recall you ever providing any input into the budget before it was created.

[balanced]

Very fair question.

To be honest I did not attend the budget hearings.

Since at the timing of the hearings I was not really contemplating a run for the board, I had the following items which monopolized my time at that time:

1) My family. Working in Manhattan only allows a couple of hours each night to work with the kids on homework and just to spend time with them.

2) PTA co-president of SEPTA. There is a significant amount of time that goes into this role other than the meetings.

3) My job. Being a sole provider for my family and with costs such as the school tax burden to pay, simply working just 9:00 - 5:00 is not always an option.

If I had decided at the time of hearings that I would have been running for the board, then the budget hearings would have risen on the level of priority and I would have made a point to be there. I will say that as a PTA president, I was able to obtain regular updates.

I really decided the Friday before the signatures were due to run when I realized there would be definitely at least one actual vacant spot and I did not see or hear rumblings of many other people running.

I want to answer the next question that will be asked which is, "If you didn't have time to make the budget meetings, how will you have time for a Board of Education position".

First, if I am lucky enough to be elected, then I have already notified the current SEPTA board and many parents we support that I would removed myself as president and the current other co-president of SEPTA has agreed to become sole president. I would remain on the SEPTA board, because this is something that will always remain very important to me. But I will be in a much less time-consuming role.

Second, I have asked many current board members and members of the current administration about the time element of the job, before I decided to rum. As I understand besides the two meeting a month a lot of the time spent is reading and analyzing material to prepare for those meetings. I will be able to do a lot of than on my commute and during the evenings. So, after long deliberation and discussions with my wife, we decided that I would be able to handle the time required for the B.O.E position.

I hope this helps.

P.S. Patriot, I am still researching your question and comments about the meetings with the community.

[mom23]

If I had decided at the time of hearings that I would have been running for the board, then the budget hearings would have risen on the level of priority and I would have made a point to be there. I will say that as a PTA president, I was able to obtain regular updates.

I really decided the Friday before the signatures were due to run when I realized there would be definitely at least one actual vacant spot and I did not see or hear rumblings of many other people running.


IMO, budget meetings should be a priority to every resident/taxpayer in this community, regardless of whether or not you are running for a seat on the BOE. I would venture to guess that the majority of the people who did attend the meetings either have jobs outside the home, hold positions on PTA, are full time moms who try to get homework, afterschool activities, dinner and in some cases pj's on before heading out to the meetings, or all of the above. While I know it is not easy for some people to get to every meeting, there were enough scheduled that one should be able to attend at least one meeting. Point is, we are all busy.

I am also curious to know what the "one actual vacant spot" is that you referred to. To my knowledge there were always two seats up for grabs...Doug's (the incumbent) and Loretta Giardina's. Also, you mentioned that your did not hear "rumblings of many other people running". How and why would that factor into your decision?

[1plainedge]

I agree w/ mom

with no ties to any of the candidates, Doug stepped up when we the community needed him and Nancy has clearly put in the time at all the meetings.

I look forward to monday night

[dborg]

Dennis,

I'd like to invite you to the Plainedge Community School Budget Awareness Festival this Saturday, May 12th at John H West. It will be held at 9:30 am - 12:30 pm and all candidates as well as existing BOE members are invited.
You are welcome to set up a table, distribute information about yourself and meet many members of our community.
If you need more information, please feel free to contact me directly at [e-mail].

Thanks and I hope to see you on Saturday.

Donna Borgogelli

[plainedgeammo]

Balanced,

Thank you for being honest in your response. I can sympathize with your situation. Since I am very active in many of the community activities in Plainedge. I am always juggling my prioirties to ensure that there is a balance in my life.

As President of PYBL, I preside over two Board Meetings monthly and am dealing with issues of concern which arise daily during the year. I also work for a living having my business in Bohemia NY. I also have my family obligations. For instance, I have my monthly PYBL board meeting this evening and will not be able to attend the meet the candidate event.

However, I made sure that I attended every Tues & thurs meeting during the budget creation process because I wanted to be part of the solution. I voiced my concerns and made sure that the Board of Education knew exactly my feelings regarding the budget draft they were discussing. The only meetings I missed were the meetings after the budget had been ratified.

I know that you receive updates from your constituents in the PTA's. But when we needed assistance getting the BOE to understand that we WANTED Middle School Sports and additional academic & enrichment programs for our children....Your voice was not heard. I am not sure I could look past that fact.....As a great Plainedge Resident often states...."Just my humble opinion".

Sincerely,
Joe Amalfitano

[balanced]

Just a little clarification based on some of the replies;

By 'one actual vacant spot' I meant that there was an open spot since Loretta was not re-running. And when I stated I did not hear rumblings of other people running I meant that in previous years I had been approached by potential candidates at the soccer field, the baseball parade or one of our SEPTA meetings, which did not happen this year.