Glen Cove

BUDGET

SPENDING $91,257,983, a 3.46 percent increase from the current $88,209,126.

TAX LEVY 1.99 percent increase, from $68,134,737 to $69,491,395. This is equal to the district's 1.99 percent tax-cap limit, so a simple majority vote is required for approval.

TEACHER PAY / PROGRAMS Includes a 0.75 percent salary increase and an average step increase of 2.1 percent. The proposed budget adds nine full-time teacher positions. The district also plans to restore 9-period days at the high school. 

PROPOSITIONS

Proposition 2 sets up a facilities improvement capital reserve account, to set aside funds for improving all school facilities. Funding of the account could take place only from June 2019 to June 2029 and would not exceed $20 million. Approval of the proposition will not increase the tax levy.

WHEN | WHERE

7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Glen Cove High School and Connolly School. www.glencove.k12.ny.us

CANDIDATES

Five candidates for two at-large seats: Karen A. Ferguson, Lia Leone, Daniel Rios and incumbents David Huggins and Alexander Juarez. Terms are for three years. 

Karen A. Ferguson

BACKGROUND Ferguson, 63, has lived in the district for 51 years and is a retired Glen Cove teacher who taught special education for 23 years. She was president of the Glen Cove Teacher's Association for 18 years. Ferguson was raised in Glen Cove and graduated from the high school in 1974. She has a bachelor's degree in physical education from Niagara University and a master's degree in special education from the College of Staten Island. Ferguson's daughter graduated from the high school in 2000 and she has two grandchildren attending district schools. 

KEY ISSUE School safety, "nurturing the whole child" and ensuring students have adequate support from social workers and psychologists and closely monitoring how the district is spending its money. 

Lia Leone

BACKGROUND Leone, 42, was raised in the district and is a graduate of Glen Cove High School. She earned a bachelor's in elementary education and a master's in reading education from LIU Post. Leone is a reading teacher in the Hicksville school district and a volunteer on the Glen Cove PTA. She has two children attending district public schools. 

KEY ISSUE Lack of funding to "make necessary improvements to the infrastructure of our schools that would ensure the health and safety of students and staff."

Daniel Rios

BACKGROUND Rios, 44, grew up in Glen Cove and graduated from the high school in 1993. He is a licensed massage therapist and has two children attending public schools in the district. His son graduated from the BOCES program in 2016. 

KEY ISSUE Rios says the district needs leadership that can secure money, noting a recent $84.6 million bond intended to upgrade facilities that failed to pass. Money is needed to "rectify conditions at the schools" and make the district's buildings safe for students, he said.

David Huggins

BACKGROUND Huggins, 59, is a lifelong resident of the district and is a 1978 graduate of Glen Cove High School. He owns a property management company and his wife is a teacher in the North Shore school district. He is a past director of Glen Cove Lacrosse and is on the board of the Glen Cove Junior Soccer League. He has two sons who graduated from district schools and a son attending an elementary school. Huggins has served on the school board since 2009. 

KEY ISSUE The infrastructure of the schools needs to be repaired for the "safety and well-being of the children," Huggins said. "Most of the [high] school is in the same condition it was when I graduated in 1978."

Alexander Juarez

BACKGROUND Juarez, 46, has lived in the district for 40 years and graduated from the high school in 1991. He has a bachelor's degree in education from LIU Post and currently works in sales and marketing. Juarez has three children attending district schools. He has served on the school board since 2017. 

KEY ISSUE School safety, transparency and communicating with the community and strengthening the curriculum. Juarez says he wants to continue working with the administration "to ensure that at every level, every student is given the same opportunities to be as successful as possible no matter their native language, country of origin and/or their needs."