Westbury and Carle Place school district voters will see uncontested races for both board presidents when they go out to the polls on May 20, according to their respective district clerks.
Carle Place
In Carle Place current board president Lawrence F. Zaino is seeking re-election in an unopposed race. He has served on the board for over 20 years and has also been on the district’s Audit Committee.
Westbury
In Westbury, where three seats are open, two incumbents will be seeking re-election.
Current board president Robert Troiano is running for another term. He’s been serving on the board since 2018, but also served from 1991 to 1994 and 1996 to 2002.
“As a graduate of the Class of 1971, serving on the Board gives me the opportunity to give back to the community that has given so much to me,” Troiano said.
In addition to serving on the Westbury board, he is also a North Hempstead Councilman who works at the Board of Elections.
Running alongside Troiano is the board’s vice president, Floyd Ewing. He has been a Westbury resident for over 50 years and graduated from Westbury High School in 1987. His two children are also graduates.
Current Trustee Pedro Quintanilla is not seeking re-election. He has served on the board since 2016 and was recently elected to the Village of Westbury Board of Trustees.
Mateo Flores will be running for election in his place. He has run for election in the past.
Flores, who described himself as a community leaders and human rights advocate, currently holds the position of Director of the Hempstead Community Action Program. He graduated from Westbury High School in 1987 and studied at SUNY Old Westbury.
Voters will also see a slate of candidates on the ballot in the neighboring districts of Herricks, Mineola, and Floral Park-Bellerose.
Herricks
In Herricks, school board President Juleigh Chin is running uncontested for re-election.
Juleigh Chin began her current term as board president in 2022. She has served on the board since 2013, serving other terms as president and vice president. Off the school board, Chin is a member of the board of directors for the Asian Institute of Research and Engagement and an associate program manager for North Shore University Hospital.
Mineola
In Mineola, incumbent board Vice President Cheryl Lampasona is seeking re-election. She’s served as a trustee for Mineola’s board since 2009.
Lampasona, who has two sons in the district, said she was motivated to run in 2009 after serving on the PTA of her son’s elementary school at the time.
She is a long-time New York City public school teacher, said she has two sons in the district, and first got involved in the school community by serving on their elementary PTA. She said she looks forward to continuing to serve her community and being involved with her children’s education.
Floral Park-Bellerose
In Floral Park-Bellerose Union Free School District, two seats are open, one of which will see a contested election for the seat currently held by board Vice President Michael L. Culotta, who will not be seeking re-election. Culotta has been on the board since 2019 and served on the Facilities Committee and the Budget Advisory Committee this year.
Victor Ferrante and Lauren Persic are both vying for Culotta’s seat.
Rose Peltonen, who has served on the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board since 2022, is running unopposed. She also serves on the DEI and Policy Committees and is a member of the Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education.
Peltonen has lived in the district for over 20 years and has been an elementary teacher in New York City and the Floral-Park Bellerose School District.
