Education

Complete voters guide for North Fork school budgets, elections

MEET THE GREENPORT CANDIDATES

Three candidates are running for two open seats on Greenport’s Board of Education.

Newcomer Sonia Spar is challenging two incumbents, current board president Babette Cornine and past president Dan Creedon.

The two candidates who receive the most votes during Tuesday’s election will be elected to three-year terms.

Babette Cornine

Ms. Cornine is a home companion and the mother of two children, who graduated from Greenport High School in 1992 and 1995.

She has lived in Greenport for several decades and produces plays with the North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck. She served as PTA president when her children were in school and has served on the Board of Education for six years.

She said the district’s biggest challenge is maintaining a budget that serves the district’s students while staying under the mandated 2 percent tax cap.

“I work to make sure all of our students have a chance to receive a good education,” Ms. Cornine said. “We have increased staff to facilitate this goal. Two years ago, we replaced nine teaching positions that we had lost to prior retirements. I will continue to put my energy into programs to help our students succeed.”

Daniel Creedon

Mr. Creedon, 56, has three children who graduated from Greenport schools. He’s worked as a public high school science teacher for 30 years, volunteers with the Greenport Fire Department and has served on the local school board for nine years.

He feels the biggest challenge facing the Board of Education is deciding how much security is appropriate for the district. He said the district is adding a security guard for 2018-19, but the board needs to work with parents and community members to find out how much security they want and how much they want to spend.

During his time on the board, he said, he’s worked to hire qualified people, ensure consistent grading policies and support hiring practices that are consistent with state law.

“I believe it is important to have people from many walks of life represented on school boards — and that includes professional educators,” Mr. Creedon said. “I will work hard in the coming years to make Greenport School safe for the people learning and working in it.”

Sonia Spar

Ms. Spar, 44, is the mother of a first-grader and a 3-year-old.

She works as a consultant for a civil rights organization and a per diem certified New York State court interpreter. She is also co-chair of the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force.

Ms. Spar was born and raised in Colombia and lived in Jerusalem, Israel, before moving to Greenport.

She cited the district’s budget deficit as its biggest challenge, saying security, building maintenance and student programs — in addition to maintaining programs and teachers — are forcing the district to pierce the tax cap too frequently.

To combat this, she wants to create a Greenport School Educational Foundation to serve students through private and public funds.

Ms. Spar described herself as an advocate for respect, civility and leadership and said that, if elected, she hopes to bring a new perspective if.

“I have witnessed first hand the joy of our Greenport school kids who are exposed to innovative educational experiences,” she said, “and I want to help make sure they keep the programs they have and are able to benefit from new opportunities.”