Three incumbents will be running unopposed to fill three-year term seats on the William Floyd School District’s Board of Education, including April Coppola, Lorraine Mentz, and Luis J. Soto.
Luis J. Soto
William Floyd Board of Education trustee Luis J. Soto is seeking his first full three-year term after garnering election in 2023 to fill the remainder of the term of Robert Guerriero, who died in October 2022.
Soto has spent the past 21 years working in the public sector serving in various capacities, including public transportation, labor relations and health care. For the past 13 years, he has served as a bus operator for the New York City Transit Authority/MTA.
He also serves as the elected chairman of transportation for ATU Local 1056. As a community-minded individual, Soto has served local youth athletics organizations in various capacities, including as a head coach, assistant coach, league representative and commissioner in New York City, and, in similar capacities, with the Lynvet Colonials.
Soto resides in Shirley, and is happily married to his wife, Eva, and is the proud father of four children, two of whom are currently enrolled in William Floyd schools.
WHY RUN FOR A FULL TERM?
“The district is growing and advancing in a great way. We have a great team full of experience. I have learned a lot and feel I have a lot to give to the district and our community with my board service. There is still a lot of work to be done. Our children in our district are amazing and need to have every tool to even out the playing field to compete and succeed in their future. Go, Floyd!” -Luis J. Soto
April Coppola, President
April Coppola was first elected in 2016 and this will be her fourth term.
Coppola, a lifelong resident of the William Floyd community and a 1984 graduate of William Floyd High School, has served as a member of the William Floyd Board of Education, an unpaid, volunteer-elected position, since 2016.
She was selected by her fellow trustees as the board vice president in 2019 after thedeath of 40-year trustee Jeananne Dawson, and subsequently selected as board president in 2022 after the retirement of former trustee and president Robert Vecchio, who now serves as the executive director of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.
Coppola, and her husband, Rob Fleischmann, reside in Shirley, and have three children who are all graduates of William Floyd High School: Skylar Fleischmann (Class of 2019), Isabella Coppola (Class of 2023) and Thomas Coppola (Class of 2023). Skylar is currently employed; Isabella is studying education at SUNY Oneonta; and Thomas is studying geology at Suffolk County Community College.
In addition to her service with the William Floyd Board of Education, Coppola is involved in many local organizations working to serve and improve the community, including the William Floyd Community Summit, where she serves as treasurer and chairperson of the Beautification Committee; the Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics and Shirley, where she serves as a board member since 2014; as well as volunteering her time as a member of the Pattersquash Creek Civic Association, where she serves on the board of directors.
Her newest community role is serving as a member of the Police Level Advisory Board. In this role, she serves as liaison between the police department and the community, providing a community perspective concerning programs and effectiveness of the precinct’s services and promoting public awareness of various programs including prevention programs, safety training, domestic violence intervention, school district/police relations, and more.
Coppola also organizes and participates in various events, including working to beautify the area through flower planting projects, spring and fall community cleanups, and even a partnership with Boy Scout Troop 138 of Mastic Beach to maintain Osprey Park in Mastic Beach.
She also maintains the corner of William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway, where the statue of William Floyd is located and which serves as the unofficial gateway to the William Floyd community. She can often be seen with her husband, Rob, planting flowers and pulling weeds to ensure the location continues to look great.
As a member of the William Floyd Board of Education, Coppola continues to advocate for the needs of the district and community to ensure William Floyd students have the greatest opportunities available to them.
The district’s award-winning music, fine arts, athletics, science research, NJROTC and career and technical education programs all work together to make students career and/or college ready and successful in the next chapters of their lives. She has been an instrumental member of the Board of Education that has overseen an increasing graduation rate that recently reached 90 percent, and includes sound and fiscally responsible business operations, including reducing the community’s tax levy by more than $23 million over a two-year period.
During her tenure, the district has had its bond rating increase and achieved the top rating on the New York State Comptroller’s report multiple times for having zero fiscal stress.
The district also passed two capital project referendums, which have transformed our schools and community through improved facilities, state-of-the-art auditoriums, beautiful adaptive playgrounds and high-quality athletic fields. Coppola, along with her colleagues, continues to advocate for the William Floyd community and focus on smart long-term visioning for the future.
Coppola is grateful to her fellow trustees, the faculty, staff, and administration of the William Floyd School District, local community leaders and elected representatives for their efforts to enhance the William Floyd community. She is especially grateful to her husband, Rob, and all the support he continually provides to allow her to volunteer so much time and effort to the community.
WHY RUN FOR ANOTHER TERM?
“I am returning to the school board because I care deeply about our community, and I want to continue being a voice for the families and students who live here, but even more importantly, lending an ear to those who may no longer have children in our schools. Through my years of involvement, I have come to understand the unique needs of our community, especially when trying to explain to a resident the importance of educating every child, even if their child has graduated and moved away.”
“I want to stay on the board to help develop programs that respond to our communities’ changing demographics. I believe we have been a responsible and effective board, working together respectfully and collaboratively. That teamwork is essential to continuing the progress we have made, and I am proud to be part of it.”
-April Coppola
Lorraine Mentz
Lorraine Mentz has been a resident of Shirley, N.Y., since 2002, when she and her husband, Chris, moved into the community from Nassau County. Lorraine and Chris have two daughters: Madison, a William Floyd High School Class of 2021 alumna, and Mikayla, a member of the Class of 2024, both whom have had wonderful experiences at William Floyd.
A teacher by trade, Mentz worked as a secondary math teacher at I.S. 141 and the I.S. 10 schools in the NYC school system before moving to Shirley and becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom. While raising her daughters, she served on the Just Kids Parent Organization for two years, the William Floyd Elementary School PTO for nine years, and the William Floyd Middle School PTO for three years.
Before joining the Board of Education, Mentz served as a per diem substitute teacher in three William Floyd schools for six years (William Floyd Elementary School, Moriches Elementary School and William Floyd Middle School) and, later, as a permanent substitute teacher at Westhampton Beach Elementary School. She currently serves as the administrative director for the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.
Mentz holds a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Old Westbury in business management & administration and a master’s degree in secondary education from Mercy College.
She is a two-time recipient of the SCOPE Shining Star award earning recognition for Community Service in 2013, and for Board Service in 2025. She has been an involved and active community leader in the William Floyd school community for many years.
She also became interested in serving on the Board of Education after attending many meetings over the years. She found great value in attending them and as a result, decided to serve the William Floyd community in a new capacity, as a board trustee, a role that she was appointed to in 2017. In 2018, she was elected to fill the remainder of a term expiring June 30, 2019, and then subsequently re-elected to two full three-year terms in 2019 and 2022.
WHY RUN FOR ANOTHER TERM?
“There are 9,400* reasons why I want to run again for my BOE seat and why we do what we do as a board. Being on the board is all about the kids and that’s what it always should be about!
I am running again because I want to continue to serve the community. I have the time to dedicate, the experience, the background in education, and the knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of a school board member, as well as a passion to continue to serve the community in this capacity.
In my unique role working with school boards in Nassau and Suffolk counties, it makes me appreciate the very dedicated Board of Education governance team that that we have at William Floyd, where kids always come first.
I look forward to continue working collaboratively with our highly skilled and devoted superintendent and his extremely talented and supportive leadership team. As a board, we look to continue to increase the graduation rate, and, with the passage of the recent capital project, I am looking forward to helping to provide many more student opportunities, including additions to our award-winning Career and Technical Education program.”
*9,400 represents the student enrollment
-Lorraine Mentz
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