The Sayville School District budget and board elections, along with votes for the Sayville Public Library, historical society, and use of capital reserves, will take place on Tuesday, May 19. Voting is available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Old Junior High School’s renovated gym at 30 Greene Avenue.
Two candidates are running for one open seat on the Sayville Board of Education, while incumbent trustee Thomas Cooley is running for re-election to his seat unopposed.
Kyle Valentine and Jason Rowland are each running for the open three-year trustee seat which was vacated when former trustee James Bertsch left the board last summer. Both candidates have run for the school board previously and each believe their backgrounds and skills set them apart from the other, while respecting their challenger at the same time.
Kyle Valentine is a father of two young children and has been a Sayville resident for over a decade. Valentine works as an assistant principal at a special education school in Suffolk County and has previously worked as a special education teacher. According to Valentine, one of his proudest professional achievements was launching a life-skills program for students with disabilities to return to their home district and interact with neurotypical teens.
When asked why he’s running for a spot on the Sayville Board of Education, Valentine said he’s always wanted to give back to his community, and has done so throughout his life, whether it be as a volunteer firefighter in his hometown, working at his parent’s small business, or later coaching his child’s Little League team and serving on the board of a nonprofit special education preschool in Sayville.
“Ever since I was young, I always had a desire to give back to my community,” Valentine said.
If elected, Valentine said he would “create a shared vision with all stakeholders” to create “effective academic programs with safe and secure schools.”
Valentine added that his background working in schools and in volunteerism each give him communication skills that he will use to bring members of the community together when making decisions on the school board.
Another priority Valentine identified is balancing the school budget, and said he wants to avoid moments like last year when the district faced a multi-million-dollar budget gap that resulted in excessing of staff. Valentine said he’d avoid this through long-term planning with fellow board members so that they can create budgets that upgrade the district’s programs and facilities instead.
Jason Rowland is a longtime Sayville resident and father of two children. Rowland ran for Sayville School Board last year and said if elected, he’d bring his over decade of legal and regulatory experience as a risk and compliance officer to the Sayville Board of Education.
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