Uniondale

This increase is within the state's tax-cap limit of 3.79 percent, so a simple majority vote is required to approve the budget. District officials said they could not specify school taxes for the average single-family house because they are waiting for the Nassau County assessor's office to release adjusted base proportion data.

Teachers would get a step increase plus a cost-of-living adjustment increase of 1.5 percent. Staff is being reduced through attrition and retirement incentives, with cuts of five teaching positions and one support-staff position.

District website: www.uniondaleschools.org

The Candidates

Incumbent Bruno A. Cubas faces a challenge from Dorothy LaPierre. Incumbent Terri Mangum is running unopposed. Terms are three years. Bruno A. Cubas

BACKGROUND: Cubas, 47, a district resident for 15 years, is a chef at a Rockville Centre nursing home. He has a teaching degree from the Instituto Tecnolojico de San Miguel in El Salvador and graduated in 2002 from the Culinary Academy of Long Island, since renamed Star Career Academy, in Syosset. Cubas was elected to the school board in 2010. He has two sons attending district schools. His oldest son graduated from Uniondale High School and currently is a freshman at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.

ISSUES: Encouraging parents, particularly Latino parents, to take part in their children's education is an important objective for Cubas. Nearly half of the students in the district are Latinos, he said. Often, Cubas said, he attends school events, such as PTA meetings, and urges parents to participate in all aspects of their kids' education. ""My goal is to go and talk to them [Latino parents] and explain to them how they can get involved in the process,"" said Cubas, who is fluent in Spanish. ""I think I can be a bridge between the district and the Latino community."" Cubas is in favor of keeping the existing bilingual program, which he said helps Spanish-speaking students learn English more quickly. Controlling the costs of education also is a priority, Cubas said. He said he and fellow school board members have saved the district money over the past three years by trimming overtime costs and cutting supply expenses.

Dorothy LaPierre

BACKGROUND: LaPierre, 64, a district resident for seven years, is minister of Lord Lift Us Up Outreach Ministry in Hempstead. She works for the Town of Hempstead's Department of Parks and Recreation. She has two grandchildren attending district schools. This is her second run for the school board.

ISSUES: Providing a safe and secure environment for learning is at the top of her agenda, LaPierre said. The district needs to hire additional security guards and offer them better training, she said. A 16-year-old male student was injured in April when he was stabbed inside Uniondale High School, LaPierre said. ""Kids were allowed in without their book bags being scanned,"" LaPierre said, noting what she saw on a visit to the high school. ""I know the guards know the students, but they don't know what's on their minds today,"" she said. LaPierre favors hiring retired police officers or correction officers who she said come with some training regarding how to deter crimes in schools, ""not just to check kids' bags.