Meet the Elmont elementary school board candidates

By AnA BORRUTO aborruto@liherald.com

The Elmont Union Free School District is gearing up for its upcoming school budget vote and Board of Education elections, set for Tuesday, May 16.

There are two seats up this year on the Elmont elementary Board of Education. The candidates include incumbents Tiffany Capers and Anthony Maffea and newcomers Angel Ramos and Patrick Dempsey.

The candidates come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, but share a commitment to serving as a representative of the Elmont community.

Here is what each of the four candidates want to bring to the table if elected this year.

Tiffany Capers

Capers is a current trustee on the Elmont elementary school board and an IT professional with over 20 years of experience in the private and public sectors.

She is an active community member who has been recognized by elected officials for her volunteerism. She has been involved in a variety of organizations such as the Girl Scouts, the Parent Teacher Association, the local civic association and the Elmont Police Activity League.

She said she hopes to continue to serve on the board, introduce new ideas and programs, and improve on existing ones.

If re-elected, she said her top priority is to rebuild the board’s relationship with the Elmont community, while supporting the district’s staff and students.

With three administrators in the Sewanhaka and Elmont school districts stepping down, a number of people in the Elmont community recently have expressed distrust in their trustees.

Capers said the only way to restore this trust is “by getting back to the basics,” which she defined as acknowledging the board’s mistakes, giving the com- munity a chance to be heard and working together to make things right.

“These past few months have been a drain on all sides — the community is frustrated because they aren’t being heard, the staff is frustrated because they just want to get back to educating the children,” Capers said. “We must build mutual respect and work from there; our scholars deserve that.”

Anthony Maffea

Maffea has served on the Elmont elementary board of education for the past 15 years, making him one of the longest-standing trustees. In addition, he served as vice president of the

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