Two Mineola district parents are running for seats on the Mineola School Board in the first contested board electionsince 2015.
Stacey Tyson-Tracy and Bob Citro, who both have eighth-grade children affected by the Build Your Own Grade program, have entered petitions to run for the seats currently occupied by trustees Patrick Talty and Margaret Ballantyne.
Neither of the current trustees has publicly confirmed whether they will seek re-election.
At-large board elections are scheduled for May 19, the same day as thebudget adoption vote.All polling will take place at the Synergy Building at2400 Jericho Turnpike. Petitions for candidacy must be filed with the district clerk no later than30 days priorto the election, on April 19.
This academic year, the school board was under close public scrutiny due to a controversialdigital learning curriculumimplemented by the district in eighth-grade classrooms. The curriculum, Build Your Own Grade, was found to have originated with Quave LLC, owned by Michael Nagler, whoresigned as superintendentin the wake of the controversy.
Both new candidates said their career experiences would be a valuable addition to the board’s skill set.
Tyson-Tracy said she has worked for the New York CitySchool Construction Authorityfor 15 years, has dealt with procurement and financial transparency, and was a private-sector lawyer for a decade before that.
“I have seen the challenges of a construction bid environment,” she said. “I have seen the challenges of representing the taxpayers, advocating for the taxpayers’ best interests, and I understand the need for transparency.”
Citro said he has a business background and has overseen large budgets, as well as worked with financial ethics codes and fiscal transparency.
“I would never question lesson plans because I’m not a professional teacher,” he said, “I do know about other things, like financial fraud, ethics violations, and things like that. I deal with that stuff all the time.”
Source: LI Press
