The South Country School District will have the choice of three candidates to fill two open seats on the board of education. Two incumbents, Cheryl A. Felice and E. Anne Hayes, will be running for …
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The South Country School District will have the choice of three candidates to fill two open seats on the board of education. Two incumbents, Cheryl A. Felice and E. Anne Hayes, will be running for reelection, while Donna Gallo Ingrassia also seeks election.
Cheryl A. Felice
Cheryl A. Felice, of Bellport, is a 6-year member of the South Country Central School District Board of Education and is currently serving a third year as board president.
Felice is a distinguished alumnus of both Suffolk County Community College and St. Joseph’s University, earning an Executive MBA and completing both the Administrators and Trustees Master’s Program from the International Foundation of Employees Benefit Plans.
A retired member of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Felice was the longest-serving executive board member, fund trustee and administrator, and president of Suffolk County’s largest independent union, the Association of Municipal Employees (AME), proudly serving for 30-plus years.
Felice is a member and past director of the Patchogue Lioness Lions Club, co-founder of the girls softball league for the Patchogue Youth Athletic Association, and serves on the board of directors for the Bellport Hagerman East Patchogue Alliance.
On South Country Central School District matters, Felice was proud to support the creation of the South Haven Early Childhood Development Center and the Brookhaven Dual Language Magnet School. She proudly advocated for all-new windows at Kramer Street and Verne W. Critz Elementary schools, and for refurbishing and installing an outdoor courtyard learning lab and new windows and doors at the Frank P. Long Intermediate School. Programs she helped launch include the Cadet Corps, to prepare students for military enlistment; Generation Citizen, where students learn about civic and community service; and the Capstone Program, where high school students develop college and post-graduate research methods, giving them unprecedented preparation for college and the workforce.
According to Felice, the most gratifying experience she has participated in was in the new superintendent search, a process that concluded in May 2022, with the hiring of a new school superintendent. Felice has been a strong advocate to increase and enhance communications within the district and in having the superintendent more accessible to educators, students, parents and residents. Felice is also proud of the fact that she consistently supported budgets that stayed at or under the New York State-mandated property tax cap and in budgeting transparency.
Felice said she is a strong voice for the district’s athletic programs, music classes, concerts, and the arts and science programs. You will often find her at committee meetings, student project events, sports games, plays, concerts, and awards ceremonies. This year, Felice spent a considerable amount of time in the classroom herself, visiting school music rooms with her grandfather’s 100-year-old trumpet!
“Being reunited with my grandfather’s trumpet (unaware that it still existed) inspired me to reconnect with music by taking lessons, long after having given up this instrument in the fifth grade. In addition to my message to each student, encouraging them to ‘stick with music,’ no matter what career path they choose, is we never stop learning,” she said.
Felice looks forward to continue serving as trustee on behalf of the students, parents, residents, educators, staff, and administrators of the South Country Central School District.
E. Anne Hayes
Since 2019, Hayes has been a member of the board of education for the South Country Central School District, serving three years as president of the board and one year as vice president. Prior to being elected to the board, she was a longtime member of board advisory committees and the South Country Resource Network, as well as volunteer for various church and community organizations. Having lived in Bellport for more than 40 years, Hayes and her husband are proud parents of two graduates from Bellport High School. She is also an attorney retired from active practice of law, in which she concentrated on elder law, estate planning, and administration, and real estate to help people plan for themselves and their families.
“As a board member, I have avidly participated in educational programs by the NYS School Boards Association and applied what I have learned to benefit the school district,” she said. “I am running for reelection to the board of education to deliver on our community’s promise to all district children that there is hope for their future, that they are worthy of our investment in them, and that the education provided by this community will fully prepare them for productive and meaningful lives as adults who will make positive contributions to our community. In short, I want all students to flourish.”
“By forging a strong governance team with other members of the board and the superintendent, I can continue to work toward that goal,” she continued. “Our schools need to provide safe spaces for educating and learning, developing socialization and civic skills, and addressing social/emotional needs. Our schools must demonstrate that behavior conducive to learning is expected and behavior deviating from that standard is addressed appropriately, promptly, and consistently. Our schools need to provide challenging and effective educational programs, support services and co-curricular activities, expecting excellence and demonstrating achievement by all students.”
During her four years on the board, she said she has seen improvement in all these areas. She said she believes the district is setting its standards high and being recognized for its successes. As one of the first schools authorized to award the Seal of Civic Readiness on the diplomas of qualified graduates, she said they are leading the way for students to be productive members of the community. Similarly, their AP Capstone Program enables students to develop skills in research, analysis, evidence-based arguments, collaboration, writing and presenting on issues chosen by the students.
Also, the district, she explained, has been designated one of the 2023 Best Communities for Music Education for its outstanding achievement in providing music access and education to all students. Also, student-athletes have demonstrated success, not just in competition, but also in academic achievement and leadership for younger students. Co-curricular activities have been expanded to include new clubs focused on special interests of the students.
“Our students have responded by being engaged in their own education and having fun while doing it,” she said. “I see the possibilities and I want to continue to be part of the board that promotes enriching experiences for our students.”
Donna Gallo Ingrassia
Gallo Ingrassia has been a real estate broker and small-business owner since 1986. Her son graduated Cornell Law School 2022 and her daughter is currently attending NYU Law School.
“While China and India are leading in manufacturing and engineering, they are also occupying at least 60 percent of seats in America’s top universities. Foreign students are excelling in STEM majors while our students barely take AP classes,” she said. “Globally, America is lagging in math and science. The education department was created to teach students, not fund another failing institution.”
“It’s time to put students first. Bringing back academic excellence is job No. 1,” she said,
If elected, she promised to get to the bottom of the following questions: What accounted for the increase of spending of over $13 million from June 2020 to June 2021, when enrollment was down during that time period? What’s being done about the 4-6 percent dropout rate?
Her agenda also includes selling Frank P. Long. When sold, she hopes the other elementary schools will be reconstructed to accommodate K-5.
“Transforming them from looking like federal penitentiaries to beautiful schools where staff and students will be excited to work and learn,” she said.
She also promised to establish a committee to assess the mismanagement funds with the objective to reduce school taxes and eliminating school tax for senior citizens who do not use the public school system. She believes this will promote school choice where tax dollars follow the student for home schooling or private or an alternative public-school will create competition, improving the public school system.
Having taught religious ed at Mary Immaculate from 2002-2013, during which time she made her own first communion and confirmation, propels her belief to reintroduce prayer into the school.
“Prayer will acknowledge that there is a much greater existence beyond this world, elevating each of us to higher standards which will promote self-love, self-respect, and love of neighbor at a time that we are in such moral decay. After all, we are ‘One Nation Under God,’ aren’t we?” Gallo Ingrassia asked. “Your children belong to you and the public schools belong to the community. Prayerfully, I’m asking for your vote May 16.”
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