Three candidates will run for the two positions that are open on the Island Trees School Board.

At the Meet the Candidates Night, run by the Island Trees PTA, held on April 23, each of the candidates had an opportunity to introduce themselves and their views and answer questions raised by the audience.

Richard Ahrens and Carl Bonsignore are running for one board of education seat and Peter Ray, an unchallenged incumbent, is running for the seat that he was appointed to in January. Each of these terms is three years.

Here is a brief introduction to the three candidates:

Richard Ahrens is 37 years old and has lived in Island Trees since 1965. He is a 1978 graduate of Island Trees High School. Ahrens is also a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. He has worked for United Airlines for the past 11 years and also works as a private chauffeur for a record producer.

Ahrens and his wife have two children who both attend J. Fred Sparke Elementary School. He has been involved in raising money for Sparke School's playground and cultural arts programs by donating a DJ to the fashion show for two years. He has coached Island Trees Little League and both he and his wife are members of the PTA.

Ahrens would like to become a school board member to keep the high education standard that exists in the district at less of a financial burden to taxpayers. He would like to introduce the idea of an entertainment committee, which would utilize the high school auditorium for concerts, plays, public speakers and seminars to raise money for the school. He has also publicly stated that anyone sending children to Island Trees schools illegally should be heavily fined.

Ahrens has publicly stated that he fully supports an English-only law. He says that this becomes a school board issue when the schools hire bus drivers that only speak another language. He cites an episode where a school bus driver was lost in Levittown for four hours because he did not speak English as an example of how it concerns the schools.

If elected Ahrens says, "I will fight for an overhaul of the census system which determines the tiny portion of the school budget we always receive." He does not believe that taxes need to be raised to raise revenue for the schools. He says that he will also fight for innovative ways to raise this revenue for the schools. He says he would also like to hold monthly family activities to raise money and to bring families together with some quality, fun times.

Another idea of Ahrens is to form a safety committee that would notify every home in the district of any neighborhood rapists or any other "undesirable" that moves into the neighborhood. He believes that every resident has the right to know about this, not just the homes that have children.

Ahrens' reason for wanting to be on the school board is that he believes that all of the kids in the Island Trees' schools deserve the best that the district can possibly give them for their futures.

Carl Bonsignore has been an Island Trees School Board member since 1992. He has served as a trustee and served as vice president of the board for three years.

Bonsignore is married to a teacher's aide at the Island Trees Pre-School, and is a past-president of the Gallow PTA. They have two children, one who is an Island Trees graduate and the other who is currently a senior at Island Trees High School.

Bonsignore has been extremely involved with many different community activities. These activities include: Dollars for Scholars, SEPTA, Levittown's 50th Anniversary Committee, Parents as Reading Partners, Even Good Kids Use Drugs and Alcohol, Junior Prom Committees, Senior Post Prom Committees, Books Across America, C.A.P.I.T. (Community Awareness Project of Island Trees), Senior Citizen's Prom, Boy Scouts of America, Island Trees Little League, School District Reorganization Committee, Gallow School Building Utilization Committee, PTA Council Legislation, Active PTA member since 1981, PTSA since 1988. He was also the Jenkins Award recipient in 1986.

According to Bonsignore during the six years that he has served on the school board he has attended many seminars and met with other school boards from surrounding districts, which has afforded him the opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss problems and explore viable solutions to problems. He says that these open dialogues have helped him to become a more effective board trustee. He adds, "To make responsible decisions, I have learned that you must tap every resource, including community input." He said that part of his campaign six years ago was that he wanted to make the school board more receptive to community input and that he feels he has accomplished this.

Bonsignore says, "While being financially responsible I supported new programs and services without compromising our existing ones. With your support I would like to remain an active member of the school board so that I can continue to represent you and your families. Together we can make it better."

Peter Ray replaced Kathy Becker on the school board this past January. He has lived in Levittown for over 17 years and is the general manager of an electrical supply company. He is married and has seven children. His wife is currently the treasurer of the Island Trees PTA Council and is a past recording secretary of the Sparke PTA. Two of his children are currently attending Island Trees schools.

Over the years Ray has been very involved in community organizations. Some of his community involvements include; the Shared Decision Making Team, Island Trees Baseball League, PTSA, Sparke PTA, Youth Hockey, and a PTA Council Delegate.

Ray says that he has just tried to be informed and tried to help out and do whatever he could to help the children of Island Trees. He says that he does not have any agendas that he wants to set by being on the board and that he just wants to make sure that everything keeps working smoothly, the way that it has been. He added, "The school board in the past, the administration in the past has always been very receptive to the community and I know that the administration and the school board now goes out of their way to help the community to set things up and do things to make it easier for the parents to raise children and have a place for them to go that is safe and let them get a good education."

Ray wants Island Trees to be a friendly community where neighbors know each other and talk to each other. He adds, "I would like to see these children in Island Trees, and Island Trees itself become a stronger community amongst themselves."