Twenty-five years in and Lawrence Zaino is still going strong on the Carle Place Board of Education.
Zaino, who has served for many years as the board of education president, is seeking another three-year term in an uncontested race later this month. He said he’s sticking around because he cares deeply about leveraging his experience to serve the community where he and his children grew up and went to school.
“I have a very new board, and I have a superintendent who is in his second year,” Zaino said, referring to Ted Cannone, who assumed the superintendent role in 2023, and multiple members of the board who took office last year. “I think I could lend a lot of history and background to things that they don’t know, that they’re not aware of, which will help them become better board members and manage the school better.”
Zaino said he’s lived between Westbury and Carle Place his entire life. His father was on the board of Westbury’s school district, which he attended growing up. He’s been a Carle Place board member while his (now graduated) daughter attended school in this district.
Though he’s retired now, Zaino said he previously managed tax and accounting departments for large, global corporations like Ciba, Instinet Incorporated and CA Technologies for decades.
He said this experience, combined with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and tax management and status as a CPA, allows him to support the district well in their yearly budget work.
“I’m the only one on the board with that experience and that knowledge. I feel good about running again, because I think I can help them,” he said, adding that he was working with the board to pass his knowledge along.
Zaino, who also serves on the district’s Audit Committee, said he’s proud to have led the community’s schools in a way he felt has provided students with an enjoyable education and a successful start to their careers over the decades.
“I think for a small school district, we do a lot for education. We provide many different courses and we’re pretty good in sports,” he said. “98% of our kids go on to college. If they don’t, they go on to be a carpenter or an electrician. And, if you look at our schools, we keep the facilities pristine.”
He said the only time he’s run in a contested election was when he ran for his seat the first time, an election he competed in after serving as trustee and president of the Westbury Civic Association for 10 years.
“After that nobody ran against me. So, I assume I’m doing a good job, or maybe nobody else wants the job,” Zaino said, laughing. “I enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t have run again.”
Carle Place school district residents can cast their vote in the trustee election on a ballot that also includes the district’s $58,689,234 budget, which includes a 1.99% tax levy increase, on May 20 between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the multipurpose room of Carle Place High School.
