West Hempstead Candidates Field Voters' Questions

From their plans to raise test scores and increase parental involvement, to their thoughts on extracurriculars, special education and the budget, five of the six candidates running in the May 15 West Hempstead school board election shared their thoughts with voters Wednesday.

The two incumbent trustees, and , who are both running for seventh terms, and their respective challengers, , a retired NYC firefighter and single dad of two, and , a 44-year West Hempstead resident and father of five, participated in the forum. So did, the PTA leader and mom of three, who is running for Anthony Brita's vacant seat against , who could not be present due to a family emergency.

The program, sponsored by the West Hempstead PTA, PTSA and SEPTA, and moderated by the League of Women Voters, gave residents a chance to anonymously pose questions to the candidates via notecards. For roughly two hours, the five spoke about their stances on raising student achievement, including among students designated as English Language Learners and those needing Special Education.

They shared their ideas on what should become of the and explained their positions on the role of extracurricular activities, especially as it relates to the budget.

When asked what their top priority would be if elected, the candidates said the following: 

Brohm: "The children, all the way, the children."

Fogg: "I'm for the children as well ... What I'd like to see improve is first, accountability. It's very important that ... the trustees are accountable to the students, to the residents and the school board, and also to ensure that collaboration between the teachers, between students, between the school board is at its most optimal working status. The other thing is total committment to effective governance. Once policies are laid down and there is transparency between the residents, the children and the teachers, we can then move forward. I'm hoping we can actually do that and we realize that where we are as far as achievement scores are ... and succeeding in the workplace, in life, and our goals, it's very important that we get that from our schools where our children spend almost all their time."

Mariano: "Everything is a priority - academic exellence, school safety, getting a budget passed, keeping the programs intact, hiring good staff - it's all part of the programming put together to make our district one of the best in the nation, I feel. We have the programs, we have the teaching staff, we have the administration, what I feel we have to do is get the parents involved. Parental involvement is, to me, the key to academic excellence."

Rilling: "I have just one priority and that's improving student achivement, but at the same time we have to think of the taxpayer. I think we've got a wonderful administrative team. We've got Superintendent John Hogan, a deputy who is wonderful and Ann Peluso, who is fabulous. These people live and breath West Hempstead and also, the teachers. I think that everything is in place right now and we're going forward. We are good district and we are going to get better. When my daughter was here in the 90's it was good. My daughter got a favbulous education. I think today our kids who are here now are also getting a wonderful education ... you see the colleges that our kids have been accepted to, wonderful places, this year. Nobody can say that our kids don't have the opportunity to go to see wonderful schools."

Signorile: "I have several priorities. Since I have two children in the district, one I consider to be one of the highest achieving students in the district since he was a little boy and one the opposite, who is in great need of help. I've talked to quite a few teachers and parents, and the worry for so many parents, and so many teachers have given me the same great input on where the failures are, in the lower grades and the middle school, where they don't learn the necessary tools. The AP students and honor students can handle almost anything because they are great achievers. It's the weaker students I would focus on. I believe in double-blocking classes ... Math, English and Science classes for the weaker students in the seventh, eighth and ninth grade, so when they attend the high school those students will be able to cope with and not fall behind. Once a student falls behind they've lost their self-esteem and they don't ever seem to be catching up. The second priority is to have a fiscal responsibility. We need to realize there is only so much money coming down the pipeline for us and since the seniors are here and the people who can't afford to stay shouldn't be forced to move out, we have to take a stronger look at the fiscal responsibility we owe the community. We have to look at the peripheral items of the district. The teachers are the priority, but when you bring back support help as opposed to teachers, I have a serious problem with that..." 

Watch the video above to see the entire Q&A portion of the forum and the candidates' closing remarks.