Q&A: Laffey Hopes to Put Business, Teaching Experience to Use

Jim Laffey, who was born and raised in Port Jefferson, is an incumbent school board member, making his second run for a seat on the Port Jefferson School District Board of Eduction. Laffey finished third in a three-person race last May, and was later appointed by the Board of Education to fill the vacant seat of Dr. Robert Frey last November.

Laffey has five children, and works as a social studies teacher at . Prior to his time at RHS, Laffey worked for 10 years in the financial services industry, working for Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab.

Port Jefferson Patch: What brought you to run for school board?

Jim Laffey: Many different reasons. I have a unique perspective. I'm an educator by trade - I've been a teacher for 10 years. I've also spent 10 years in the business world. So I have both sides of the equation, which adds value to the position. I also have kids in every school in the district. So I have teaching experience, I'm a community member, and I have business experience.

PJP: What's the biggest challenge facing the district now?

JL: , , and . We're up a very significant challenge in the next 12 months. We have the potential to lose 50 percent of our budget funding. The questions is what do we do with that? 

PJP: What's your answer to that question?

JL: That will come out when we find out what the LIPA situation will be. I don't know if we'll be allowed to have a declining tax base over a certain number of years, I don't know if they'll pull the rug out from under us. I don't know what the problem is yet. Nobody knows the answer, because nobody knows what the question is yet.

I do know there has to be a balance. You can't lay it all on teh doorstep of taxpayers and not have a change in the programs. You're going to have to find - and this is where you rely on the expertise of the superintendent - to tel me the most prudent educational steps to be taking. And then as a board, we have to decide if that's right for the community.

PJP: What have you learned during your time on the board so far?

JL: It's been both enjoyable and educational. I've learned a significant amount about the innermost workings of the school. From the outisde something might seem like an easy fix, but there's a lot more to the story when you get into executive session - something might turn out to be a lot more complicated then you originally think.

PJP: Can you elaborate on that?

JL: As an outsider looking in, someone might not be aware of certain state mandates, or contractual obligations you have to honor. Certain things, looking from the outside - like the board might be forced to make certain decisions because of state obligations.

PJP: Is there anything you would do differently in the time on the board so far?

JF:  No, not yet. No. It's been good enough for me to sign up for another three years. Possibly three of the most difficult years in the district's history.

It's a challenging time, but it's a time we can recreate and reinvent the school a little and hopefully something special comes out of it.