Robert Scavo: Why You Should Re-Elect Me to the Sachem School Board

Submitted by Robert Scavo (School board candidates can submit their own letters to the editor to ryan@patch.com)

I am Robert Scavo and I am running for re-election to the Sachem School Board. Nine years ago, I embarked on a journey when I ran and was elected to the Sachem Board of Education for the first time. A journey that has allowed me to meet and work with many community members from senior citizens to the students. I have met and worked with many talented and dedicated staff members from administrators, facilities members, secretaries and nurses as well as the best educators that you could ever ask for that make Sachem a world class educational institution. I have seen students achieve goals that they thought would never be possible and have handed the diplomas to hundreds of Sachem graduates that will go on and become very successful in life and make us proud for decades to come.

When I first ran I made some commitments and promises to the Sachem community that I would uphold once I was elected. They were to:

· Serve as a voice and advocate for the children of Sachem and support only the highest educational opportunities for them.

· To be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of Sachem community by developing taxpayer sensitive budgets.

· To put the concerns of our children & community first when making difficult decisions.

· To support educational programs that lead to improved student achievement and success.

When I look back over the past nine years, I’m truly proud of the accomplishments that I was a part of. Just to highlight some of these successful initiatives during by board tenure, they include:

· A 9 year average tax increase of 1.2% per year that is well below the New York State 2% tax cap or consumer price index.

· As the President of the board, I was the only member to vote against the adoption of the 2013 budget that cut kindergarten to a half day that short changed our youngest learners and then worked tirelessly with Superintendent Nolan, Senator Flanagan and Senator Zeldin to secure $660,000 in bullet aid that allowed us to restore full day kindergarten.

· I was part of the planning, approval and implementation of renewable energy upgrades that allow our schools to be more energy efficient and will save the taxpayer more than a million dollars each year in energy cost for the next 15years.

· I lobbied our elected officials in Albany along with 300 of our Sachem Teachers and Superintendent Nolan in March of 2013 which resulted in a 2.2 million dollar increase in state aid for the 2011-12 school budget.

· Voted yes to provide school tax relief for our brave men and women of our armed forces that served this great nation and are members of our Sachem community.

· Fought to restore funding for Co-curricular educational opportunities for all of our students to help them grow and expand their knowledge outside of the traditional classroom setting.

· I Worked Hard to maintain a Safe & Secure School Environment so that learning can take place without the constant threat of bullying or violence.

Over the last nine years , I have served as the Sachem Board of Education President for 4 years and Vice President for 3 years as well as serving as the Board of Education liaison to the budget advisory committee for all nine years. This committee consists of dedicated community members that spend countless hours reviewing proposed budgets and make recommendations and suggestions to the board. I have been a resident of the Sachem community for 45 years and I am honored and privileged to say that I am a Sachem Graduate.

I hope that I have earned your vote on Tuesday, May 19th. If given the privilege to continue to serve as trustee, I promise to continue fight for the students and taxpayers of the Sachem District.