Late Start For South Huntington Voting

The South Huntington school district will hold its budget vote and school board election Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. at .

On the ballot, a $142 million budget which reflects a 1.92 percent budget to budget increase over this year and a tax rate increase of 4.74 percent.

Four candidates are running for three seats for terms of three years. Candidates include:

Linda LaCara: Running for a third term on the South Huntington Board of Education. 

"This year has presented me with the most difficult challenges I have experienced during my 2 terms on the board.  We were forced to impose program cuts which I believe were not ideal for the education system, but necessary to meet the tax levy cap imposed by the governor. I remain passionate and dedicated to education and the South Huntington School District."  

Michele DeGaetano: An 11-year resident of South Huntington, DeGaetano is a mother of two students and has been married to a public high school teacher and coach for 14 years. She is a senior financial executive recruiter, specializing in the placement of accounting/finance professionals.

DeGaetano said she looks forward to serving as a member of the Board of Education and pledges to work as hard as she can in these tough economic times to serve our children and provide for our community, according to a statement from the school district.

Edward J. Nitkewicz: An attorney, Nitkewicz is running for his second consecutive term on the South HuntingtonSchool Board. His wife is a special education teacher and his son, a district student, suffers from autism. Nitkewicz ran unopposed three years ago. 

"I helped establish the special needs soccer and baseball programs in South Huntington and the special needs Faith Formation Ministry of the St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church. I have published five essays on special needs parenting including "Fixing The Hole in my Bucket," which was published in "The Exceptional Parent" magazine," said Nitkewicz in a spress release.

Thomas G. Teresky: The current school board vice president, Teresky is seeking re-election to the school board.

"This year Albany imposed a 2 percent spending cap but provided no financial relief for all the mandated programs that we still must pay for. Unfortunately we have had to make cuts to both academic and extracurricular programs," said Teresky in a statement. These cuts have been painful for all of us on the board. We did not make then without a tremendous amount of deliberation and anguish. It would be a lot easier not to run for re-election, since this already-challenging job will continue to get even tougher until the current system is changed. But board experience is more critical today than ever before. That, and a true commitment to our students and our citizens, is what I offer the district as a board member."