Schools

4 Candidates Running for 3 Seats on Port Jefferson School Board

Voting takes place May 21.

This year, four candidates are vying for three open seats on the Port Jefferson Board of Education. Two of those seats are full three-year terms, while the third seat is open following the death of a school board trustee in October. Voting will take place at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Dennis Kahn

Kahn, a resident of Port Jefferson for 25 years, is a dentist with three children who graduated from Port Jefferson. He has served three terms on the Port Jefferson Board of Education, once serving as its president and twice as its vice president. Among his accomplishments, Kahn noted that he was responsible for negotiating a 10-year BOCES lease on the Spring Street school that brings in $750,000 a year. He supports the current proposed budget, and said the biggest upcoming challenge the board will face is the LIPA issue. "We’ll have to think outside the box," he said in an interview with Patch. "Maybe deliver education a little bit differently than we have in the past, but I think we have the right people in place to do so."

Adam DeWitt

DeWitt, a seven-year resident of Port Jefferson with two elementary-school age children, is a former Port Jefferson library board trustee and coaches youth sports in the area. He is seeking his first term on the school board. An assistant principal in the Longwood school district, DeWitt said his professional experience "on a daily basis" will help him in his role on the Board of Education if elected. He said his approach to the LIPA revenue situation would be as positive as possible and said "having those conversations early and keeping the community informed 100 percent is the approach that I would take." He said he supports the current budget proposal, saying the school district "did not spend wildly on things but still is putting forth a very good product."

Ellen Boehm

Boehm, a 20-year resident of Port Jefferson and mother of two Port Jefferson graduates, is seeking her first full term on the Board of Education. She is a former medical laboratory technician who later worked as a teaching assistant in the Port Jefferson district and retired in 2012. Boehm said she has "the best of both worlds" when it comes to experience. "I have an intimate knowledge of where kids start. I understand where our programs are and how the kids begin their education. And as a parent of two recent grads who have gone onto higher education, I understand where they need to be," she said in an interview with Patch. She supports the current budget proposal, calling it "effective." 

Kathleen Brennan

Brennan is seeking her second term on the Board of Education. According to The Port Times Record, Brennan has lived in the school district since 1978 and is a former teacher, principal and administrator for the Longwood school district for 34 years. She is the mother of two Port Jefferson graduates. Brennan told the newspaper she would like to help the district meet the challenges it will face in the near future, including maintaining the academic quality of the district while "keeping our eye on the financial ball, both in terms of spending money wisely in the district and maintaining our communications with all of the key players in the LIPA/National Grid issue."


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