By Art Cusano

Three candidates are running for the two open seats on the Somers School Board in the upcoming May 20 election. Board President Lucia “Missy” Vece and fellow incumbent Cheryl Smith are seeking another three-year term while newcomer Jay Olifiers seeks to unseat one of them.
Here’s how the candidates stack up:

Lucia ‘Missy’ Vece
Lucia “Missy” Vece moved to Somers 15 years ago. She was the PTA president for four years. She said she served on the school board as a way to “do her part” in the community. She is currently in her 11th year, after a two-year first term and three full three-year terms. She has a background in management but is currently a homemaker with three children in the district.
“We’re a highly effective board and we work great together,” said Vece. She said she is proud of the construction projects the board has overseen that have alleviated space issues in the district. She is also proud of this year’s budget, which she feels is “fair and reasonable.”
Vece also points to the global initiative programs in the district, where students learn about world issues and human rights. She cites one particular project where students held fundraisers to raise money to build a school for girls in Costa Rica as an example of the great things the program is doing.

“We’re trying to prepare our kids for a global economy,” Vece said.

Cheryl Smith
Cheryl Smith, a science teacher in the New Rochelle school district, is the senior member on the Somers School Board, and is currently serving her 15th year. She has two children in the district and one in college.

Smith said she joined the board during a “tumultuous” time when the district was dealing with lawsuits.

“The last thing on the members’ minds was the education of the kids,” said Smith. She said since the time she joined the board went from “no focus” to a heavy focus on education and fiscal responsibility.

Smith said the district has seen expanded advanced placement course offerings and that regents program participation has increased from 48 to 96 percent. SAT math scores have increased from 513 to 580.

“We’ve made significant strides and I’m proud of that,” she said.
Smith is particularly proud of the district being chosen as one of Standard & Poor’s and The Journal News’ “better buy” schools, one of only eight in the area.
Smith also points out the tax rate, which has been lowered from 5.6 to 4.28, as proof of fiscal responsibility. “I know things are bad. We all know that. We’re just trying to maintain what we have,” she said.

Jay Olifiers
Jay Olifiers is a sergeant with the Mount Vernon Police Department with 19 years of experience on the force, and is currently a supervisor in the field intelligence unit. He has three children in the district.

Olifiers, who is active in Somers youth sports and coaches minor league and t-ball baseball leagues as well as girls lacrosse, says he is running on a three-part platform.
The first issue he wants addressed is school safety. He wants door locks and buzzers on all the schools to keep strangers out. He also wants to see the school safety officer visit the younger grades and teach them about dealing with strangers and how to contact the police.
“This would help foster a relationship with the kids,” said Olifiers.

The second thing he wants implemented is a “hard cap” on taxes.
“People are feeling the crunch, and we need to look within the budget to trim fat,” said Olifiers.
He would also like to see privatization of school workers such as cafeteria staff and the elimination of redundant jobs in the district.

The last issue Olifiers wants to see addressed is more funding for students who don’t fall into the gifted or special needs programs, such as students who have trouble reading but are not learning disabled. He would like to see more accelerated classes in lower grades than are currently offered.