The voters of the Westbury school district will see a new name on their electoral ballot on May 20. Mateo Flores, director of the Hempstead Community Action Program and a resident of Westbury since 1981, who has lived there since he emigrated to the United States from El Salvador, was postulated without opposition for a vacant position when Pedro Quintanilla resigned after being chosen a member of this board of directors in March.
Flores, who graduated from the Westbury High School in 1987, has three sons in the district: two daughters who recently graduated and a son who studies the 11th grade. He said he postulates because he wants to pay schools and the community, which, according to him, have done so much for him.
“I want to apply because I want to give back to the community that has been so good with me and my family,” said Flores, who is also the founder of the Hispanic Association of Westbury.
“Westbury is my home. I raised my children there. I think I will apply for the Board is a way to give back to our community. If there is something I can do to improve what is being done in the district, I would certainly like to contribute,” he emphasized.
Flores is running along with two headlines without opposition: the Vice President of the Board, Floyd Ewing, who has lived in Westbury for more than 50 years and has served more than 15, and the president, Robert Troiano, long -standing resident who has been part of the Board in five mandates and also serves the municipality of North Hempstead as a councilor.
Ewing, who graduated from the district the same year as Flores, has titles of the University of Columbia and Notre Dame, and has worked as a lawyer and commercial finance consultant for small businesses. According to him, these experiences have provided a valuable experience in the elaboration of the district budget and the management of school personnel.
He was part of the Board of Directors for the first time between 1999 and 2010, and again since 2019. Ewing commented that he resigned in 2010 because he wanted to spend more time to his children, twins, who graduated from the district last year and applied to return to the position in 2019, when they were a little older.
Troiano commented that his 16 years in the School Board, in which he served between 1991 and 1994, 1996 and 2002 and 2018 onwards, have been characterized by their work to correct the previous dysfunctional management, improve the educational opportunities and in the demand of the district against the State, which resulted in an increase in funds for Westbury and a modification in the way in which the help of the foundation to the foundation to the districts of the entire county is distributed.
If re -elected, Troiano, who graduated from the District’s preparatory school in 1971, said he will take advantage of this mandate to continue working on the improvement of district’s security infrastructure and collect data on the educational advances that the district has achieved in recent years to evaluate what works and what not.
He commented that his Master in Business Administration (MBA), his previous experience in finance and his certification as a certified public accountant (CPA) have helped him in his work on the school budget, and his other elective positions have provided him with knowledge on how to effectively take advantage of the government and experience to lead and combine ideas of different people, something that, according to him, the Board has urgently needed in several moments of the last decades.
For his part, the Salvadoran immigrant Mateo Flores also commented that he feels that his previous community work has prepared him to be part of the school board.
He affirms that his work with the Hempstead Community Action Program, which implies helping to provide direct services to the community, such as assistance for the rental, distribution of emergency food and programs for the elderly, has given him the opportunity to work individually with many members of the community, an experience that he considers relevant.
“I am a person of trust in the community,” Flores said. “I worry about the education of our students and I contribute a lot of experience. I hope people vote for me because they know me, they trust me and I am someone who cares about our students.”
If chosen, Mateo Flores, who also presides over the Westbury Youth Club, said he hopes to work to continue improving at the Board the extracurricular and sports programs of the district.
“I have always believed that education must have additional programs that help our students reach their goals after school,” he said. “I will work hard to find ways to make Westbury a better place, a better place to learn and to improve the school district curriculum. I want to make sure that our children receive the best possible education.”
It is worth mentioning that President Robert Troiano expressed his full support for the incorporation of flowers to the Board. “It is good to bring new people and listen to their ideas and perspectives. I hope to have Mateo on the board,” Troiano said. I am very sorry for Pedro Quintanilla’s departure, but I’m glad to have found someone who can try to replace him. ”
Residents will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 20 to vote on the elections of directors and the $ 201 million budget of the Westbury school district.
The elections will be 6 am to 9 pm at the Westbury Middle School, Park Avenue School, Dryden Street School and Drexel Avenue Elementary School.
