Three Seats Up for Grabs;
One Candidate Unopposed
On Tuesday, May 17, residents from the Hicksville Public School District will have the opportunity to vote on the 2011-2012 budget and three board of education trustee seats.
Qualified voters of the Hicksville Union Free School District will be able to vote on Tuesday, May 17 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the following schools: Burns Avenue (District 1), East Street (District 2), Woodland (District 3), Lee Avenue (District 4), Fork Lane (District 5), Dutch Lane (District 6) and Old Country Road (District 7).
2011-2012 Budget
The district voted to adopt its 2011-2012 budget during a special meeting at the high school on Wednesday, April 13.
The proposed budget of $117,178,303 is a 2.63 budget-to-budget increase from last year. The estimated tax levy for the proposed budget is 3.25 percent and the total increase from the previous school year is $3,006,092.
In the event that the budget is passed, the district said it would appropriate $50,000 to the Hicksville Gregory Museum “for educational services associated with its programs.”
The district lost 10.3 percent of New York State aid (excluding federal job funds) while Long Island lost a total of 3.7 percent and the state decreased 3.5 percent. Hicksville’s is among the lowest tax rates in Nassau County – 13th lowest out of 54 – but its state aid reduction is the fifth highest in the county.
Trustee Seat #1
Charles Coutieri (incumbent), Kevin Carroll and Phil Heckler are vying for one seat on the board of education.
Charles “Chuck” Coutieri is a lifelong resident of Hicksville and a graduate of HHS. He and his wife have raised two daughters, both graduates of HHS. Coutieri is a life member of the Hicksville Fire Department Exempt Association and a member of the New York State Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 911. His family has volunteered for the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged, as well as the Irish American Physically Challenged Youth Team.
He is currently the vice president of the board of education and has been on the board for six years. He has held the following positions on the board: chairman of finance committee, chairman of policy committee, chairman of the facilities committee and deputy district treasurer.
Kevin Carroll is running for the first time. He and his wife have five children, all of whom have passed through or are currently enrolled in the district for the last 16 years.
Carroll is involved in the banking industry as well as the Our Lady of Mercy and St. Ignatius CYO programs. Carroll has lived in the district for all but five years, during which time he and his wife lived in Syosset.
Phil Heckler has lived in Hicksville for 35 years and has two daughters, who both graduated from Hicksville High School. He is a semi-retired consulting engineer looking to give back to the community and has two grandchildren currently in the district.
He is a past president of the Gregory Museum and was co-chair of the environmental committee for the Hicksville Gardens Civic Association.
Heckler managed budgets and employees in the past in addition to developing an award-winning citizen’s advisory committee.
A Vietnam veteran, Heckler is a lifetime member of the Hicksville VFW.
Trustee Seat #2
Delores Garger (incumbent) is running unopposed for her third term on the board of education.
She and her husband are lifelong Hicksville residents as well as graduates of Hicksville High School. Their son is a sophomore at Stony Brook University and their daughter is a sophomore at HHS.
Delores is a stay at home mother and her husband works at Cablevision. The couple has been married for 22 years.
She has been involved with the PTA, school board and was once a Boy Scout troop leader.
Trustee Seat #3
Steve Culhane (incumbent) is running against David Jao. Jao, an information technology director, has been a Hicksville resident for two decades. He and his wife have four children, three of whom are currently in the district and the other in college.
He hasn’t run for a seat on the board of education before but has experience serving on the Hicksville High School and Middle School PTAs, Hicksville Gardens Civic Association (sector chief) as well as chair of the 2009 Lee Avenue PTA yearbook.
Incumbent Steve Culhane could not be reached for this article.
