As the May 18 universal voting day for school budgets and trustee elections approaches, the Farmingdale Council of PTA will be holding their Candidates Forum at the Howitt Middle School auditorium on Wednesday, May 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. All three school board, as well as both library board, candidates are invited to attend. Current School Board Trustee Joy Jorgensen is running for re-election this year. She is opposed by Russ Catanzaro. Current Board Vice President Tina Diamond is also seeking re-election. She is running unopposed. Library Board Trustee Larry Jorgensen is seeking re-election and is being opposed by Matt Probert. (Editor's Note: Next week's issue will feature a profile of each of the library board trustees).

Russ Catanzaro, a lifetime resident of Farmingdale, is running for the board of education. A 1970 graduate of FHS, Catanzaro is president of the Farmingdale Unit of the Nassau County PAL. Three of his sons are students in the district.

"I believe in Farmingdale and the quality of our schools, and I believe I have the energy, community commitment and work ethic to make the Farmingdale Schools the very best in the region," Catanzaro said.

When Woodward Parkway formed one of the first shared decision-making teams, Catanzaro grasped the opportunity to take an active role in the district education programs. In October 2003, he brought his more than 30 years experience in the construction industry to work for the district when he volunteered on the Facilities Advisory Committee, which is helping the board address the needs of the district's buildings and grounds.

Catanzaro said he is proud of the Farmingdale School District and believes its students receive a solid education that surpasses that of some neighboring districts. As a member of the board of education, he said he will look for ways to further improve and strengthen the instructional program without sacrificing sensible fiscal management.

One area of contribution to the board focuses on his concerns about the districts buildings and he shares the Facilities Advisory Committee's view that additional physical improvements are necessary, some of which may be considerable. He believes that the community will be well served if someone with his knowledge is on the board of education when future decisions about capital improvement and related spending are made.

"I am confident that I will be a valuable addition to the board because I speak the language of construction. I know where you can save money without cutting quality and I know not only the tough questions to ask, but many of the answers," he said.

"There is nothing more important to me that my family and I know that all parents in Farmingdale feel the same about theirs. Becoming a member of the board of education will give me the opportunity to help preserve the quality of our children's education, provide them with a safe school environment and protect tax payer interest by bringing my decades of business expertise to the table," Catanzaro concluded.

Tina Diamond, current vice president of the board of education, is seeking re-election to her seat on the board of trustees. A lifelong resident of the community, Diamond has one child who went through the Farmingdale school system, currently a student at Hofstra. Diamond's professional experience includes being a transportation freight payables manager for a worldwide corporation.

Diamond noted that she is a committed supporter of public education and believes that all children should be provided the best education to reach their potential. She said she wants to return to the board of education to ensure the quality education the Farmingdale School District has continually offered all students.

"The board of education's mission to seek 'evidence of learning' within the process has never been more evident than within the last two years as Farmingdale students have excelled in their test scores and continue to improve to meet the Regents requirements," Diamond said in regard to her reason for candidacy. "This year Farmingdale had its highest percentage of high school graduates attending two or four year colleges. These continued academic improvements have been achieved at a time of tremendous financial pressures when school boards have been forced to make difficult choices within the system."

Diamond has been a member of many community organizations, including the Farmingdale Breakfast Rotary (of which she served as secretary, vice president and president elect); the Farmingdale PTA (co-president of the Woodward Parkway PTA, president of the Farmingdale HS PTA, and Council president); the Farmingdale Community Summit Council, for which she is development committee chair; the Farmingdale Cope Committee and the Farmingdale Lobby Committee.

"To be cost-effective and to continue to seek community support of the process I, along with my colleagues, will continue to seek alternative methods of educating our students - decreasing and/or eliminating those budget items that will least affect student learning and academic achievement," Diamond said.

Joy Jorgensen is also a lifelong resident of the Farmingdale School District. She is the mother of one, and has one grandchild in the Farmingdale school system, attending Northside.

A retired teacher of biology and general science, Jorgensen has over 40 years of classroom experience, 37 1/2 of which were in the Farmingdale School District. She taught at Plainview High School, Mill Lane Junior High School, Howitt Junior High School and Farmingdale High School. Jorgensen has also been involved with the Farmingdale PTA for over 33 years, president of the high school PTA for three years, president of the Farmingdale Council of PTAs and member of the PTA council for 20 years.

"I feel that as a former teacher and PTA activist, I need to be a student advocate to maintain our programs while keeping in mind the effect of the tax rate on all residents, especially senior citizens (of which I am one)," Jorgensen said, adding that as a trustee, she has been making fiscally responsible changes.

"We have offered a retirement incentive which will save the district over $800,000. I would like to continue our policy of involving the public in the decision-making process and I would like us to be even more aggressive in making the state pay its fair share of the cost of education."

In addition to her involvement in the Farmingdale PTA, Jorgensen is also a member of the Women's Club of Farmingdale, the Farmingdale-Bethpage Historical Society, the Farmingdale Breakfast Rotary, a board of director for the YES Community Counseling Service and a member of the Farmingdale Community Summit.

"Our schools should be able to meet the needs of all our students and our community. Farmingdale has given me and my family a wonderful life. As a board of education trustee, I hope to continue to use my personal and professional experiences to benefit this community," Jorgensen concluded.