Complete voters guide for North Fork school budgets, elections
MEET THE SOUTHOLD CANDIDATES
Three candidates are vying for two open seats in the May 15 Southold Board of Education elections.
Newcomer Amy Bennett is challenging incumbents John Crean and Paulette Ofrias, who currently serves as BOE president.
The two candidates who receive the most votes will be elected to three-year terms.
Amy Bennett
Ms. Bennett, 45, has a son in eighth-grade and a son who graduated from Southold High School in 2017.
She teaches health classes at Oysterponds Elementary School, where she is also the school nurse and works as the district’s internal auditor.
Ms. Bennett said she sees finding ways to increase extracurricular offerings while staying under the tax cap and working with decreasing enrollment as the district’s biggest challenges.
It is already evident, she said, that Southold can produce students who excel in many areas, including drama, music, sports, robotics and ROTC, but that students need the resources necessary to demonstrate their excellence in more areas. She believes her experiences as a parent and educator can help her accomplish this goal.
“We owe them an outstanding education that we can all be proud of,” Ms. Bennett said. “This benefits them as individuals as well as our community as a whole.”
John Crean
Dr. Crean, 57, is a cardiologist and the father of four boys, none of whom currently attend Southold schools.
He has lived in Southold since 1994 and has served on the Board of Education since 2009. He previously volunteered as a CYO/Little League coach.
He sees declining enrollment at the district’s biggest challenge and said he hopes to address it by sharing more services with neighboring districts.
“There has been stability during my board tenure,” Dr. Crean said. “I would like to see the building project to completion. Uncontested elections are un-American and I am happy people have a choice this year. Southold is a very special place and we will all be fine no matter who is elected to serve on the board.”
Paulette Ofrias
Ms. Ofrias has two sons who graduated from the district, as she did herself. She is the owner of Southold Pharmacy.
She volunteers with the Rotary Club of Southold, the East End Health Plan, the Southold Education Foundation and East End Financial Group. She has served on the school board since 2003.
Ms. Ofrias said the biggest challenges are issues of school security, balancing a budget under the tax cap and facing state and federal mandates with little to no relief. She credited budgeting for increased security efforts in the 2018-19 budget, sharing services with neighboring districts and working with elected officials on mandate relief as some ways the board has worked to combat these issues.
“I believe that myself, along with my fellow board members, have provided our students with a quality education while being mindful of being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers,” she said. “I am passionate about improving our community by building solid educational experiences for our children.”
