LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
HOSTS FREE FORUM:
“School Boards, the Training Wheels of Democracy:
What You Should Know and How to Get Involved”
Thursday, September 18, 6:30 p.m., at LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Rd., Wainscott
(haga clic aquí para registrarse)
“School Boards, the Training Wheels of Democracy: What You Should Know and How to Get Involved” is the subject of a free upcoming panel discussion sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork.
During a time of divisive national politics, the League says, school boards not only serve the interests of local families and taxpayers in shaping school policy, but they are also among the only elected offices that are still largely non-partisan.
The program takes place live on Thursday, September 18, 6:30 p.m., at East Hampton Town’s LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Rd. in Wainscott, moderated by League Board member Andrea Gabor, the Bloomberg Professor of Business Journalism at Baruch College/CUNY, who is also a former Bloomberg Opinion education columnist and author of “After the Education Wars.”
Panelists include Robert Vecchio, a former 18-year William Floyd School Board trustee, now the executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, which oversees the school boards on Long Island; Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, a former high school social studies teacher, Southampton Town Council member and Sag Harbor School Board member; Germain Smith, a current Southampton School Board trustee and member of the Shinnecock Nation; and Kate Rossi-Snook, a recent six-year Shelter Island School Board trustee.
Especially invited are East End school board members, PTA leaders, parents, residents and the high school students who will be serving this school year as ex-officio school board trustees for the first time.
Explaining the forum topic, Prof. Gabor says: “Public education has been recognized by some of the most influential thinkers on democracy and capitalism as crucial for developing an engaged and thoughtful citizenry. Yet today, public education faces a host of challenges: culture wars over everything from masks to mascots to gender issues; privatization; the need to provide a host of services for underprivileged students; and the federal government’s plans to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.”
“At the center of these challenges are local school boards, which serve two important functions: first, to represent the concerns of citizens, taxpayers and parents to school administrators; and second, to represent the needs of the students and schools to citizen stakeholders. They also frequently serve as a stepping stone for higher elected office and thus, serve as the training wheels of our democracy.”
A Q&A session will follow the forum.
LTV asks all to register for this free program on their website CLICK HERE!
For those not able to attend in person, the forum will also be up for viewing live and later on LTV’s YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/c/LTVEastHampton and will also be available live and later for Spanish speakers.
As a follow-up to this forum, the League’s “Running and Winning” program for East End high school students on Wednesday, November 19, will focus on how to run for school boards, as this year for the first time, each school district in New York State that has a high school is required to include a student as an ex-officio member of their school board, to represent students’ interests.
Information on the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & North Fork is available on its website at: lwvhsinf.org
Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni represents the 1st Assembly District, covering Southold, Shelter Island, East Hampton, Southampton, and part of Brookhaven. Elected in 2024, he is a lifelong Sag Harbor resident, retired teacher, and former small business worker. He taught social studies in the Center Moriches School District for 30 years and served on the Sag Harbor School Board of Education from 2014 to 2017. His public service also includes the North Haven Village Board, Southampton Town Council, and local zoning boards. In the Assembly, he is committed to education, housing, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture, transportation, and the arts.
Germain L Smith is a Southampton School Board Trustee. He also served as a Tribal Councilman for the Shinnecock Nation from 2019 until April 2025. As an enrolled member of the Nation, Germain is deeply committed to advancing education, youth development, and cultural preservation within his community.
Mr. Smith has led efforts to expand student access to local schools, secure youth scholarships, and restore college funding in partnership with institutions like Stony Brook University. He played a key role in the completion of several Shinnecock projects and has advocated nationally for Native rights, including engagement with federal leadership such as Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
Known for his collaborative leadership, Mr. Smith continues to work on initiatives that uplift all children, including Shinnecock children and build sustainable opportunities for future generations.
Kate Rossi-Snook was first elected to the Shelter Island Board of Education in 2019 and served for two terms, or six academic years, four of which were in the role as Vice President. As a year-round Island resident and working mother, she wanted to be an active participant in the Shelter Island community and a parent who contributed to the school in the most productive way possible. Prior to joining the School Board, Kate served for one year as a Board Member for the Shelter Island Early Childhood Learning Center - a half-day program for young children that has had years in which it has struggled to keep its doors open despite being an invaluable resource to Island families. When her son graduated up to the "big school" for its full-day PreK-4 program, she decided to follow and rn for Trustee on the School Board. Kate is an Aquaculture Specialist and Stewardship Site Manager for Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Back to the Bays education initiative.
Bob Vecchio is the Executive Director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, which serves 116 Boards of Education on Long Island and represents 96% of the public school students on Long Island.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Vecchio worked for over 30 years in healthcare accounting for a drug and alcohol rehab center based in Westhampton Beach, NY.
He was first elected to the William Floyd School District Board of Education in 2003 where he served for 18 years as a trustee, and 15 of those years as the Board of Education President. During his term of service, the district increased its graduation rate to 90% in 2021, from 67% when he became president in 2007. Of note, he championed a district initiative to open a counseling center on the high school campus, which now offers both mental health and substance use disorder services.
Since 2016, Mr. Vecchio has hosted and produced a weekly radio show highlighting schools across Long Island on LiNewsradio called, “Spotlight on Long Island Schools.”
He is the first recipient of the New York State School Board Association’s “Champion for Change” award, as well as the Everett R. Dyer award for distinguished school board service.
Mr. Vecchio also served as a trustee for St Jude’s Roman Catholic Church for 6 years. He serves as the vice chairman of the Town of Brookhaven’s Board of Ethics Committee, which he joined in 2016.
MODERATOR: Andrea Gabor is the author of four books, most recently After the Education Wars: How Smart Schools Upend the Business of Reform. From 2018 to 2022, Professor Gabor wrote an education column for Bloomberg Opinion. A former staff writer and editor at U.S. News & World Report and Business Week, Professor Gabor also has written for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian Magazine and The Harvard Business Review. She is also the author of The Man Who Discovered Quality: How W. Edwards Deming Brought the Quality Revolution to America; Einstein’s Wife: Work and Marriage in the Lives of Five Great Twentieth Century Women; and The Capitalist Philosophers: The Geniuses of Modern Business--Their Lives, Times and Ideas.
At Baruch College, Prof. Gabor founded a traveling journalism program that has taken students to Cuba and, more recently, conducted political reporting classes, during election years, in Maine, Arizona, Texas and Michigan. She is also a long-time faculty advisor to Dollars & Sense, Baruch's award-winning student magazine.
Prof. Gabor has served on the board of the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork since 2022.
PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA: 3 de septiembre de 2025
CONTACTO: Arlene Hinkemeyer, Copresidenta y Publicidad, ahinkemeyer@optonline.net, 631-324-6713
Andrea Gabor, Miembro de la Junta Directiva, Andrea.Gabor@baruch.cuny.edu, 917-685-7666
The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork Anuncia un Foro Gratuito
CONSEJOS ESCOLARES, UN TRAMPOLIN A LA DEMOCRACIA: LO QUE HAY QUE SABER Y COMO PARTICIPAR
Jueves, 18 de septiembre, 18:30 h, en LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Rd., Wainscott
“Consejos Escolares, un Trampolin a la Democracia: Lo que Hay que Saber y Cómo Participar” es el tema de una Mesa Redonda gratuita patrocinada por la Liga de Mujeres Votantes de los Hamptons, Shelter Island y North Fork.
En una época de división política nacional, los consejos escolares no solo ayudan a definir las políticas escolares, sino que también son uno de los pocos cargos electos que no son partidistas.
La Mesa Redonda se transmitirá en vivo el jueves, 18 de septiembre, a las 18:30 h, en los Estudios de LTV de East Hampton, 75 Industrial Rd., en Wainscott. Será moderado por Andrea Gabor, miembro de la Junta Directiva de la Liga y Profesora de la Cátedra Bloomberg de Periodismo Económico en Baruch College/CUNY, quien también fue columnista de educación de Bloomberg Opinión y autora del libro "After the Education Wars".
Los Panelistas serán: Robert Vecchio, Director Ejecutivo de Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, que supervisa las juntas escolares de Long Island; el Asambleísta Tommy John Schiavoni, ex profesor de estudios sociales de secundaria y miembro de la Junta Escolar de Sag Harbor; Germain Smith, Concejal actual de la Junta Escolar de Southampton y miembro de la Nación Shinnecock; y Kate Rossi-Snook, quien hasta recientemente fue Concejal de la Junta Escolar de Shelter Island durante seis años.
Invitamos a los miembros de la junta escolar de East End, líderes de la Asociación de Padres y Maestros (PTA), padres, residentes y estudiantes.
Al explicar el tema del foro, la profesora Gabor afirma: “Algunos de los comentaristas más influyentes sobre la democracia han reconocido que la educación pública es crucial para el desarrollo de una ciudadanía comprometida y educada. Sin embargo, hoy en día, la educación pública se enfrenta a numerosos obstáculos: guerras culturales sobre temas tan diversos como las mascarillas, las mascotas y las cuestiones de género; la privatización; la necesidad de brindar una amplia gama de servicios a estudiantes desfavorecidos; y los planes de Washington de desmantelar el Departamento de Educación Federal.
“En el centro de estos desafíos se encuentran las juntas escolares locales, que cumplen dos funciones importantes: primero, representar los intereses de los ciudadanos, contribuyentes y padres ante la administración escolar; y segundo, representar las necesidades de los estudiantes y las escuelas ante los ciudadanos interesados. También suelen servir como trampolín para acceder a cargos electos de mayor jerarquía y, por lo tanto, como la base de nuestra democracia.”
Después del foro habrá una sesión de preguntas y respuestas.
LTV invita a todos a inscribirse para este programa gratuito en su sitio web: www.ltveh.org
Para quienes no puedan asistir en persona, el foro también se podrá ver en vivo y posteriormente en el canal de YouTube de LTV: https://youtube.com/c/LTVEastHampton, y también estará disponible en vivo y posteriormente para hispanohablantes.
FOTOS: Robert Vecchio, director ejecutivo de Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association
Asambleísta Tommy John Schiavoni, exmiembro de la Junta Escolar de Sag Harbor
Germain Smith, miembro de la Junta Escolar de Southampton
Kate Rossi-Snook, reciente miembro de la Junta Escolar de Shelter Island
Moderadora: Prof. Andrea Gabor, miembro de la Junta de la Liga de Mujeres Votantes de los Hamptons, Shelter Island y North Fork
Foro de la Junta Escolar, Rev. 9:18:25.docx
Jueves, 18 de septiembre, 18:30 h, en LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Rd., Wainscott