District has five candidates for two school board seats
MARLBORO, N.Y. » Residents on May 17 will choose from five candidates to fill two Board of Education seats carrying three-year terms.
Voting will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Marlboro Community Center at 21 Milton Turnpike.
On the ballot will be Frank Milazzo, of 377 Milton Turnpike, Milton; JoAnn Reed, 404 Candlestick Hill Road, Newburgh; Rebecca Boykin, 38 Sands Avenue, Milton; Jeffrey Hacker, 174 Tuckers Corners Road, Highland; and Karen Brooks, 1403 Parr Lake Drive, Newburgh.
Milazzo, 57, is a police chief with New York City Department of Environmental Protection. He is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term after losing a reelection bid last year. He has lived in the district for 38 years and with wife Darcy has one child.
“Marlboro’s been underfunded in its foundation aid for years,” he said. “The board appears, based on their adopted budget, (to be) using some of the extra money they got this year to bring the levy down 6%, but they got more money than they’re giving back to the taxpayers. It’s slated to get more money next year and I really believe that money should be put to bringing down the tax levy.”
Reed, 65, is a customer service representative for Lawrence Farms. She has lived in the district for 32 years and has two children.
Reed would like to have the search for new district leadership result in finding someone who could look hard at how programs are evaluated.
“We’re getting a new superintendent because ours is retiring,” she said. “For me, it would be (an opportunity for) restructuring
what we have. I would really like to see the way we spend money restructured to see if we could do it better.”
Boykin, 32, is owner of Double R Enterprises. She is a lifetime resident of the district and with husband Richard has three children.
Boykin said that based on her experiences during her years as a student in the district and more recently as a parent, she has become passionate about changing systemic issues that have been detrimental to segments of the student population.
“I’ve spoken to parents who have children of color or are people of color and they mention their kids have gone through some really, really terrible things,” she said. “As far as the racism and bullying, it’s never been addressed by the school district, and their children have not been given (individual education plans). Whether it’s relevant to the color of their skin or not it’s a big factor to consider.”
Hacker, 53, is a microcomputer network technician with the Arlington Central School District. He has lived in the district for 11 years and with wife Jean has one child.
Hacker would like to have Board of Education meeting become less confrontational.
“It’s just a lot of yelling and screaming,” he said. “It can be a little toxic.”
Brooks, 54, is a school district administrator for the Highland school district. She is seeking a second term. She has lived in the district for 36 years and with husband Michael has one child.
Brooks is a member of Meet in Marlboro commerce group.
“I really feel Marlboro is becoming a more and more diverse community,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of people moving up from New York City … and I don’t mean just diversity with race. I mean gender diversity and with economics and poverty.”