Massapequa School Board Candidate: Maryanne Fisher

This is the fifth of a series of candidate profiles that will appear on Massapequa Patch. We invited Ms. Fisher to submit a candidate video and be interviewed by Patch. She chose not to participate. The quotes used below come from a candidate biography submitted to the Massapequa Council of PTAs for their recent "Meet the candidates night.

Maryanne Fisher is a candidate in the May 15 Massapequa School Board Election

She has been a resident of Massapequa for 56 years and has two children who've graduated from the district.

Fisher is a medical equipment billing supervisor and the current president of the Massapequa School Board. It is her second stint as Board president. She has also been vice president and secretary. Fisher has been a member of the school board for nine years.

Here are some of Fisher's opinions on issues facing voters.

On why she supports the budget:

"The 2012-2013 budget meets the educational needs of all children in our school district and I absolutely support it. Our long-range financial plan has allowed us to maintain an outstanding educational program with no program cuts."

On putting together the school budget:

"The process for me has always been the same when prioritizing how money is budgeted. Hire the most qualified Superintendent and business official available and tell them you don't want the educational program to be negatively impacted."

"The district is always looking for opportunities to consolidate and reduce costs when possible.  Examples: Natural gas instead of oil for heating and temperature control systems in our buildings;effective contract negotiations; cost effective purchasing through BOCES has increased state aid by $1 million this year alone; In-house special education services provided our students with better services in a more cost efficient manner.

On future costs to the district:

"The new tax cap legislation will control our school tax levy increases but the costs to maintain our program will continue to grow. Many of the increasing costs are pensions, health, unfunded mandates and the shift for public schools to pay for Nassau County's assessment errors. I want our district to work with our union leaders to negotiate a better salary and benefit structure for all concerned."