There are nine candidates running for three open seats on the Westbury School District Board of Education. Incumbents Rodney Caines, Laura Pierce and Leslie Davis will be joined on the ballot by challengers Tania Stamp, Pedro Quintanilla, Jan R. Figueira, Sherley Cadet, Stanton Brown and Perelene Perpall.
The Westbury Times asked the candidates to tell us about themselves, as well as why they were running. Learn more about the candidates in next week’s edition, as well as at a meet the candidates forum at Westbury High School on May 4 at 7 p.m.
Stanton L. Brown
Currently, Dr. Stanton L. Brown serves as the chief operating officer for Bard College’s Early Colleges, a network of eight schools in five states that grant both a high school diploma and an AA degree in liberal arts. He was also the executive director of the Institute for Student Achievement, a high school turnaround organization, and a senior director of corporate strategy for The College Board. Brown held leadership roles in strategic planning and finance for some of the world’s most successful companies within the financial services and management consulting industries. Brown is a Harvard MBA, holds a doctorate in education from Fordham, as well as a BS in business administration from the University of Maryland.
Why are you running?
I love where I live. We have a great community. Yet, I believe our school district could be dramatically better in terms of student performance and our use of funds to promote student achievement. It is well known throughout our community that there is universal displeasure with our school district. Yet, our problems are fixable! To do this requires a change in our board leadership. We require an intense focus on the root causes of our academic problems and an adeptness of how we manage our finances to achieve better results. I am ready to be accountable to help lead this charge for a dramatic transformation.
Sherley Cadet
As a resident of Westbury for 22 years, an educator and parent of three children—11, 13 and 14—I not only strive for excellent education for my own children, but for all children. I have been providing special education to children under the autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities through Early Intervention Program. I attended LIU Post, majoring in communication science and disorders as well as becoming Board Certified Behavior Analyst. I currently serve as supervisor for Applied Behavior Analyst (ABA), services at Metro Children Inc.
Why are you running?
Westbury is a beautiful place to live. Unfortunately, with academic performance ranking so low, I became concerned with the issue of students success. With graduation rates so low, the school district is failing. The value of our homes have decreased. But we can fix this problem, we need a change! Our school district can change for the better if we provide the proper learning tools to our English-language learners in order to promote better performance for student achievement.
Rodney Caines
Rodney Caines is a 36-year resident of Westbury, New Cassel and a product of the Westbury Public School System. After graduating WHS in 1993, he attended and graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY in 1997 with a B.S. in Marine Engineering. Caines served 8 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, receiving an honorable discharge with the rank of Lieutenant. NORESCO, LLC, a Sustainability Engineering Services firm in Manhattan has been his employer for the past 13 years. He is married to Traci Caines and together have four daughters; ages 17, 6, 3 and 20 months old.
Why are you running?
Six years ago, I decided to run for the Westbury School Board because of my love and commitment to the Westbury community. I was raised in this community and am proud of its history of hard working families who have settled here for a better life. As an incumbent, I have a better understanding and appreciation of the work of the board. We have implemented and initiated some great changes in the district; reconfiguration of grades 1-5, a capital expansion bond proposal and a district-wide energy conservation campaign proposal to reduce cost. My call to servant leadership has compelled me to run for reelection and it would be my honor to continue to serve the community in this capacity.
Leslie Davis
My name is Leslie Davis and I am 52 years old, born and raised in Westbury. I am an alumni of the Westbury School system and was a part of the graduating class of 1981. I am the mother of three sons, Marquis 29, graduating class of 2004, Michael 22, graduating class of 2011, and Matthew who is currently attending Westbury High School, class of 2017. I am an educator, former business owner of which I operated three salons, two of which were on Post Avenue in Westbury. After 26 successful years of owning my own business, I went back to school and obtained an associate’s, bachelor’s, and a master’s degree, all in a seven-year span. I have been a homeowner for the past 25 years in the incorporated village of Westbury which allows me to understand the dynamics of a community I love and cherish dearly. I have a unique perspective on the challenges and benefits of the community.
Why are you running?
My business experience coupled with my membership in the community, gives me the ability to recognize areas where efficiency can be gained, pleasing taxpayers, while still providing a quality education for our students, which is what all parents desire. I would like to maintain the respect and pride Westbury has established over many decades, creating a climate that only our Westbury community and schools understand. Through my dedication and love for all children, I pledge to represent them with the honor and pride that my parents instilled in me 52 years ago in a community I am proud to call my own.
Jan R. Figueira
Jan R. Figueira, a native of Westbury since 1962, is a proud product of the school district attending school in Westbury from kindergarten through high school. Figueira’s commitment to the school district and community is lifelong, starting with her serving as class president both her junior and senior years of high school to most recently spearheading her class’ 40th reunion. She spent a few years away living in Philadelphia to take a job as the CEO of Girls Incorporated of Greater Philadelphia. She returned home to take care of her ailing mother and now works for Girl Scouts of Nassau County as the director of program. Her avocation is empowering young people to succeed.
Why are you running?
I received an excellent education in the Westbury schools and believe it is part of the foundation of my success today. I have dedicated my career to serving the underserved and advocating for those less fortunate….providing service is what I do both professionally and personally. I was approached several years ago to run for the BOE but my family needed me and I didn’t think I had the time to devote to this very important role. Now that things have changed I am able to make the commitment to give back to a community that has given so much to me.
Laura Pierce
My guiding principal is that education is the foundation that every person should be entitled to and our belief and resilience is what sustains us. I have been able to compliment over 30 years of work experience in Healthcare Administration with 20 plus years of public service and education. I taught for five years in pedagogy at the early childhood and elementary levels in the New York City Public School System in Harlem. I served for seven years as a school board trustee in Westbury and as an officer on various schools’ PTAs, as a Girl Scout Brownie Troop leader and with the track and swim teams. I completed a one year Education Policy Fellowship Program and received a certificate in Leadership Development and Public Policy in Education from the Institute for Educational Leadership to support my role on the board. Currently I am a Doctoral student in the School of Education at St. John’s University.
Why are you running?
When I was in the sixth grade in South Carolina during the integration era in the South, my cousin, who was the principal of the community black high school, asked my father if he wouldn’t mind sending some of his children to the community white school. As he had been rallying parents whose kids would voluntarily go. My parents agreed to send two of their eight children and I was one. I had no say in their decision. What I experienced for the first two years of voluntary bused integration etched an indelible mark on my young life and changed my understanding of education forever. My parents were supportive and present. Therefore, when I was married and started a family my thought about education was etched in stone. When we were moving to Westbury we inquired regarding the public school system. We liked the people in our community and felt it was a solid environment to raise a family. We would have to do our part as parents with our daughter’s education. I taught in the New York City Public schools and was well aware of the efforts we had to put forth as parents.
Pedro A. Quintanilla
Pedro A. Quintanilla is a 25 year resident of Westbury and home owner. He is married to Sasha V. Quintanilla. They have two children, a nine-year-old and one-year-old. He is a parishioner at St. Brigid Parish. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1980 to escape the civil war battering El Salvador at the time. He arrived in Hempstead and attended both public and Catholic school starting in fifth grade and graduated from SUNY Old Westbury with a finance degree. Quintanilla has worked in the banking and finance field for the past 25 years. Lastly as senior sales/relationship manager at Bloomberg L.P., managing and growing a $20 million book of Fintech business across US based international banks.
Why are you running?
I am deeply concerned about the academic standing of our school district, its inability to make significant progress in high school graduation rates and college readiness of graduates. The school district is failing our children, our community and our country. We are not delivering value for the hard-earned investment being made year after year by our home owners, businesses and New York state. Sadly over the last decade, the Westbury School District has not been able to improve its track record of ranking near the bottom in academic performance across schools in Long Island.
Tania Stamp
I am a 20-year resident of Westbury, a nurse and mother of three. I am a parent volunteer having held the positions of president, vice president, council representative and treasurer of the high school PTSA and vice president and secretary of the Westbury PTA council. I have also been the parent volunteer coach for the Westbury High School Flag team for the past eight years.
Why are you running?
As the years have passed I feel the board as a whole has become less and less connected with the community and the children. The consensus I have come across when discussing the issues is we keep getting less community support and less programs for our continuously increasing taxes. This feeling is what motivated me to run this year I can not complain about this issue without trying to be part of the solution. I need to understand the obstacles, if any, that seem to prevent our board from achieving the goals they set forth when campaigning and be a part of changing this negative perception.
