Locust Valley

BUDGET

SPENDING $87,307,215, a 1.98 percent increase from the current $85,612,108.

TAX LEVY 1.85 percent increase, from $79,749,608 to $81,224,715. This is within the district’s 3percent tax-cap limit, so a simple majority vote is required for approval.

TEACHER PAY / PROGRAMS Includes estimated salary increases subject to contract negotiations. The proposed budget cuts two positions —an elementary school teacher and a high school physical education teacher. It adds a school nurse. It also supports robotics extracurricular programs at the elementary and middle school levels.

WHEN | WHERE

6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ann MacArthur Primary School, Bayville Intermediate School and Brookville Reformed Church. www. lvcsd.k12.ny.us

CANDIDATES

Carl A. Friedrich, Joseph A. Zito and incumbent Margaret Marchand are running for two seats, elected at-large. Incumbent Kerian Carlstrom is not seeking re-election. Terms are three years.

Carl A. Friedrich

BACKGROUND Friedrich, 47, has lived in the district for 16 years. He is an investment manager for Excelsior Management in Lake Success. Friedrich has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of business administration degree and a master's degree in business analytics, both from Indiana University. He was a member of the Nassau County Audit Advisory Committee from 2010 to 2013, and chaired the Locust Valley school board audit committee from 2011 to 2013. He was appointed a trustee of the Village of Upper Brookville in 2017 and was elected to a one-year term in 2018. Friedrich’s five children attend district public schools. Friedrich served on the Locust Valley school board from 2010 to 2013 and did not then seek re-election.

KEY ISSUE Securing key personnel in a fiscally responsible manner. “We have to find a permanent solution for the superintendent of schools role because our current superintendent is on paid administrative leave and may have to be replaced.” Friedrich cited his knowledge of financial matters as informing his previous service on the school board and current position as an Upper Brookville trustee.

Margaret Marchand

BACKGROUND Marchand, 49, has lived in the district for 21 years. She is a private school learning specialist on Long Island. She earned a bachelor's degree with dual majors in psychology and special education from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, and a master’s degree in foundations of reading from New York University. Marchand was a tenured special education teacher in Syosset schools before leaving teaching in 2004 to rear her children. She also worked for 11 years as a music teacher at the Village Preschool in Bayville, and last year was an adjunct professor of remedial reading at Nassau Community College. Marchand was a member of the board of the Bayville Little League from 2009 to 2012. Her three children attend district public schools. Marchand won a one-year term on the school board in last year’s election, to fill the unexpired term of a trustee who resigned.

KEY ISSUE “After serving a year on the board of education, I realized that you really cannot say one key issue is important to you. All issues are important to different groups and different constituents. As a board member, it is my responsibility to represent the best interest of the entire district while focusing on the integrity of the education and fiduciary responsibility of our budget.”

Joseph A. Zito

BACKGROUND Zito, 39, has lived in the district for four years. He is an emergency and critical care physician. Zito earned a bachelor's degree and a master of health administration degree from Hofstra University. He earned a doctor of medicine degree at the Ross University School of Medicine in Bridgetown, Barbados. He is a fellow in the American College of Emergency Physicians. Zito’s three children attend district public schools.

KEY ISSUE Zito, on an information form returned to Newsday, wrote of the need for the school board "to create a long-term vision, mapping a course that provides the necessary opportunities students need to reach their full potential. I strongly believe that we have tremendous teachers and staff working with our children. We must reestablish morale amongst all district employees, and work to return harmony throughout the district." Zito could not be reached for further comment.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this entry incorrectly described the status of two teaching positions in the proposed budget. The spending plan trims the positions of an elementary school teacher and a high school physical education teacher.