With their terms up for re-election, both Kenneth Auer, Sr. and Gary Fisch have decided not to run for re-election for the Levittown Board of Education. This leaves two openings that will be voted on at the May 19 budget and school board vote. Submissions for candidacy for these open seats had to be in by 5 p.m. on April 20. Paul Granger and Pat Parsekian are the only two residents who submitted their applications for these positions, thus making this an unopposed race for the school board.

Here is an opportunity for you to meet the two newest members of the Levittown School Board:

Paul Granger is a 1983 graduate of Levittown Memorial High School. He has lived in the community for over 30 years. He is married and has a 6-year-old daughter who attends Abbey Lane Elementary School. He has just finished his tenure as Co-Chairman of the Levittown School District Citizens Budget Advisory Committee.

Granger attended Nassau Community College, where he graduated cum laude and Polytechnic University, where he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.

Granger is presently employed as the Superintendent of Business Administration and Engineering for the Plainview Water District, where he has worked since April of 1996. His responsibilities in this position include the overseeing and management of a $3.1 million operating budget and $4 million capital improvement construction fund. His other responsibilities include overseeing the daily construction activities, development of safety programs and work plans, and performing various in-house engineering and design projects for the water district.

Granger has received the H2M Group Employee Excellence Award and the Long Island Water Conference Award for distinguished service. He also belongs to several professional and civic organizations.

According to Granger, "I believe that my professional experience and over 30 years of residence in the community can be of valuable assistance to the Levittown School District."

Pat Parsekian grew up in Levittown, left after she got married, and came back to the community about 10 years ago. She has been involved in many school and community organizations over the years including Scouting and the PTAs. She has been involved with the Northside PTA, Wisdom Lane PTA, Division Avenue PTSA, and the Levittown Council of PTAs. She has a child who graduated from Division, a child who is a senior at Division, and a child at Northside.

The issues in the schools that most concern Parsekian at the moment are the new Regents requirements and space in the schools. She feels that the schools really need to work to prepare the students for the mandates that have come down from the state about Regents. She feels concern about the space in the schools because she says it seems that there are more and more children in Levittown and the schools need to consider how much room is needed for these children.

As a school board member, Parsekian hopes to bring another point of view to the board. She feels that the board is currently diversified and that it needs to stay that way because it is important for the school board to look at things from many different angles. She feels that it is a good thing for the board to have business people, mothers, retired people, and other points of view on the board because they are each representing a portion of the population that needs to be considered when looking at school issues. She says, "I hope to add just another point of view, another voice that they can listen to."

Parsekian decided to run for this position because it is something that she has wanted to do for a while, because she has always been involved in the schools and attended the meetings. She says that now is the right time for her to do this because she currently has the time that she needs to devote to it. She is a little disappointed that there are not more people running for these two school board seats. She says that she would have liked to have seen more, to give people a choice and a chance to see what people have to say. Parsekian is known by a lot of people in the community because she has gotten so involved, but she would have liked to have given other people the chance to express their views so that the community would know who is out there for future elections. According to Parsekian, "Now, as long as I vote for myself I'm in."