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_________ Oceanside/island park ________
MAY 12 - 18, 2022
School board candidates seek life after Covid By KepHerd dANIel kdaniel@liherald.com
Tom Carrozza/Herald
HISpANIc BrotHerHood leAderS, from left, Marguerite Keller, Margarita Grasing and Rudy Carmenaty, presented Catherine Suriel, Carlos Garcia Jr., Amanda Delahaye and Natalia Velasquez with college scholarships.
Hispanic Brotherhood honors Oceanside High’s Carla Stillwell By toM cArroZZA tcarrozza@liherald.com
The Rockville Centre-based nonprofit Hispanic Brotherhood returned to Temple Avodah on May 5 for its first scholarship dinner since 2019. In the intervening three years, however, the brotherhood has not rested, continuing to provide children’s and senior services, housing and scholarships, as well as its after-school tutoring program. “This organization is resilient,” Rudy Carmenaty, a Hispanic Brotherhood board member, said. “And it’s resilient because it appeals to the
fundamental principles of this country. As Hispanics, as Latinos, we believe no matter where we come from, that once we come here, if we work, if we serve, if we care, that we can make tomorrow better.” The organization’s executive director, Margarita Grasing, was eager to surprise Rockville Centre students Natalia Velasquez and Amanda Delahaye, and Oceanside students Catherine Suriel and Carlos Garcia Jr., with college scholarships. The brotherhood and United Way each gave each student $1,000, and Molloy College matched Velasquez’s scholarship with another $1,000. Nassau Community College, the brothContinued on page 12
Four candidates are vying for seats on the Oceanside Board of Education in the Tuesday, May 17 elections. Among those seeking re-election are incumbents Michael D’Ambrosio — who has served on the school board since 2012 — and Robert Transom, a trustee since 1997. Challengers Austin Graff and Jon Paskoff are looking to unseat them. Ahead of the election, the candidates were asked about their goals and the issues facing the Oceanside school board.
Why did you decide to run for a seat on the board? Graff: I believe there is an
absence of leadership on the Oceanside Board of Education. I see that the superintendent of schools is the only one speaking during the board meetings and the board acts as a rubber stamp for her decisions. During Covid, the members of the board of education were absent from any public role in the district. The members of the board left it to the superintendent to publish videos to update the community. Many of those videos left the community with more questions
than answers. The board members are the taxpayers’ and students’ elected representatives. The absence of the elected officials playing an active role during Covid created a void in leadership that remains more than two years later. If elected, I think I can help fill that void and stop the board of education from being a rubber stamp for everything the superintendent is trying to do.
paskoff: I feel the board does not properly represent the current community with very few of the current board members having children in the school district. Another reason was I feel that the current board lacks transparency with the community. I also decided to run because I feel that the current board does not connect and communicate with the Oceanside community. The community wants someone “real” that is approachable and that can talk to them, listen to them and be their voice without feeling they are being ridiculed. d’Ambrosio: I ran for the board of education in 2013 because I care deeply about the Oceanside community. I am also Continued on page 4