Oceanside school district
VOTING
7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at schools 5, 6 and 8 and Oceanside High School.
THE BUDGET
The district proposes a $144,399,509 budget for 2015-16, a 1.52 percent increase from the current $142,237,190. The local tax levy would rise 1.56 percent, from $117,010,822 to $118,831,706.
The increase is equal to the state's tax cap of 1.56 percent, so a simple majority is required to approve the budget. The dollar amount and percentage increase for school taxes on an average-single-family home was unavailable. District officials said that the district computes a tax levy, not a tax rate. Tax rates are subject to Nassau County and New York State determination, school officials said.
The budget calls for a reduction of seven teaching positions and one custodial position, all by attrition.
District website:
oceansideschools.org
THE CANDIDATES
Incumbent Seth J. Blau is running unopposed; incumbent Kimberly Grim Garrity is being challenged by Austin Graff. Terms are three years.
Kimberly Grim Garrity
BACKGROUND: Born and raised in Oceanside, Grim Garrity, 55, has served for 18 years on the Oceanside Board of Education. She graduated from Oceanside High School in 1978 and attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She had a 10-year career in the publishing industry, working for Conde Nast, until becoming a mother of two, she said. Currently, she is employed as a Nassau police communications operator (911 dispatcher) and holds a second job as a medical office manager. Her daughters are both graduates of Oceanside and she has a granddaughter who will attend Oceanside schools. She founded the OHS Alumni Association and was active in Kiwanis for 18 years, serving on its board of directors, as its public relations chairwoman and as the newsletter editor. She received the Town of Hempstead Woman of Distinction Award in 2013.
ISSUES: She said many of her pledges when she first ran for office in 1997 have come to fruition, including implementing full-day kindergarten and a science research program, development of grade-specific handbooks and utilization of the former School #1 property as a sport/recreational site. She is running for a seventh term because, "With problems such as New York's tax cap, countless unfunded state and federal mandates, and the current state testing demands upon all students, I am confident that without sacrificing quality education my background and knowledge proffers me the ability to minimize the possible extreme effects on students and on taxpayers these obstacles pose," she said.
Austin Graff
BACKGROUND: Graff, 40, is an attorney who has lived in the district for eight years. He earned a bachelor's degree from Binghamton University and a law degree from Hofstra University School of Law. He is a member of the Oceanside Jewish Center and a Little League coach and he was named a SuperLawyer Rising Star in Education and School law in 2014 and 2015. He also serves as labor counsel to the Hempstead schools. He has two children attending the district's schools.
ISSUES: Transparency is among the most important issues facing the district. "The board meetings should be live-feed over the Internet on the district's website," he said. If this is not possible with the district's technology, meetings should be posted at least 24 hours after the meeting. In addition, the district's budget needs to be examined to ensure the district is not over-budgeting and overtaxing the taxpayers, he said.
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