Riverhead School District

Meet your Riverhead school board candidates

R0403_ED_Downs_BE_C.jpgLAURIE DOWNS (Challenger)

Ms. Downs, 58, of Polish Town, said she has experience no other candidate can attest to.

A former Riverhead High School Parent-Teacher Organization president, she has volunteered to videotape school board meetings since 2000. She also delivers the recordings to Riverhead Town Hall so the meetings can be aired on Channel 22.

Ms. Downs also reports regularly on WRIV 1390 about school board meetings.

“I bring to the table 14 years of experience and observations of [how the] school functions,” Ms. Downs said. “It is essential to expand the Board of Education in ways that allow for continuous, creative input from our community.”

Ms. Downs said she believes the biggest challenge facing the district is working within the tax cap without cutting services and staff. One of her ideas for dealing with that issue is to secure additional aid through Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new Property Tax Rebate Program — a tax relief package designed to incentivize local governments and school districts to stay within the tax cap and share services.

“My focus is first on quality education for all students within a balanced budget and next on creating economies by consolidating service functions when feasible with the six other North Fork school districts and other public municipalities,” said Ms. Downs, who works in online marketing and has two grown children who graduated from Riverhead High School.

Ms. Downs also served on the district’s capital improvement bond committee.