The Hicksville Community Council held its annual "Meet the Candidates" night on Thursday, May 2. At this time, the three candidates running unopposed for seats on the Hicksville Board of Education were given an opportunity to provide the community with information on themselves as well as answer questions from the more than 50 residents in attendance.

Voting for school board trustees and the district's 2002-2003 budget will take place in Hicksville on Tuesday, May 21. Three seats on the board will expire this year, including current board president Nancy Callari and trustees Diana DePalma and James Black. All three board members are not seeking another term. Therefore, Hicksville resident Augustine Tornatore is running for Black's seat; Caryn Calabrese is running for DePalma's seat; and James Pino is running for Callari's seat.

The following are profiles of the three candidates:

Augustine Tornatore is a third-generation Hicksville resident. He graduated from Hicksville High School in 1990 and went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in economics with a minor in business management and English from SUNY - Stony Brook. Upon graduation, Tornatore worked in the accounts receivable and billing departments at IBM. A few years ago he pursued a master's degree in English/secondary education and is currently teaching in the East Meadow School District.

According to Tornatore, open communication between the board and the community is essential. "When a community member questions the board, it is the board's responsibility to address that issue, respect the taxpayer and provide them with a legitimate response," he said. "My goal [as a member on the board] is for everybody to work together, democratically. Although we may have our differences we need to work together and respect one another's opinions."

Caryn Calabrese has been a resident of Hicksville for 21 years. She is mother of three teenage boys and currently works part time as a nurse for an allergist. Calabrese has been active in the community and school district, having served on the Fork Lane Parent-Teacher Association and run the pre-K program. Calabrese was also a Cub Scout den leader for seven years, CYO basketball coach and team mother for the Hicksville Baseball Association. She has also been involved with the Rosary Altar Society at Holy Family Church.

Calabrese said that although she is in support of the district's budget, she is concerned about the new proposed bond referendum. "The bond proposal needs revision and things need to be more realistically assigned," she said. "Even though $5 million has been cut [out of the bond], the bond is still $27 million and, with interest, it will be $33 million...I don't feel that if our taxes go up a certain amount from this bond, all this money should go to the bond. Something around $20 million would probably be much more reasonable." Calabrese added that half of the proposed $212 tax increase caused by the bond should go to the teachers. "We have to find a happy medium," she said. "[With] a tax increase by $212 a year, half of that can go to the bond; half of that can go to the teachers. Things really have to be proportioned."

James Pino has lived in Hicksville for over 30 years and is a 1976 graduate of Hicksville High School. He is currently employed as a vice president in business technology at JP Morgan Chase. Pino has been active as a past president of the Hicksville Lions Club, the Hicksville Baseball Association and Hicksville Crusader Football and is a current board member of the Hicksville Youth Council. He has chaired fundraising events for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Lions Club Journey for Sight, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and is a benefactor for the Millie Pino-Marotti Memorial Scholarship. Pino is also a PTA member at Lee Avenue where his two daughters attend, and has coached boys and girls basketball and girls soccer.

A main concern, said Pino, is how much money the district is spending and where it is ranked. "I am getting tired of seeing Hicksville always on the bottom," he said. "We are spending money. You've got Levittown, Lynbrook and a few other districts who are spending the same amount and how come they are ranking in the 30s and we are at 57?" Pino added that teachers' salaries are also a major issue. "Teachers are severely underpaid and have to be respected," he said. "You cannot get morale up without respect."

Election of school board trustees will take place in Hicksville on Tuesday, May 21 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Burns Avenue, Dutch Lane, East Street, Fork Lane, Lee Avenue, Old County Road and Woodland Schools. At this time, residents will also have the opportunity to vote on the district's proposed 2002-2003 school budget of $74,223,536 contained in proposition 1. Passage of the budget will result in an estimated tax rate increase of $2.95 per $100 of assessed valuation. A second proposition, calling for the allocation of $50,000 for the Hicksville Gregory Museum, will also be on the ballot.