Liverpool will hold its budget and board of education vote Tuesday, May 21. The polling place, open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., is Liverpool High School, 4338 Wetzel Road, Liverpool. Voters will choose three representatives for BOE; three candidates are running.
The budget itself is $135 million and represents a 4.71 percent increase over last year’s budget. The tax levy increased by 5.2 percent; the tax impact is estimated at 4.2 percent.
The full budget can be found at liverpool.k12.ny.us.
Read on for profiles of the candidates running for BOE.
Betsy Webb-Bronzetti
Betsy Webb-Bronzetti is pleased to announce that she has submitted her candidacy to become a member of the Liverpool school board. As a proud member of the Liverpool community for over 30 years, she understands the successes and challenges that our current times present. Her work to date has provided her first-hand knowledge and experience regarding the
importance of not only developing our youth’s education, but their leadership skills, talents, and desire to give back to their community. An investment in our youth today is a vital investment in the future for everyone.
Webb-Bronzetti and her husband Joe raised their two children, Thomas and Alicia, in the Liverpool school district where the two participated in sports and were actively involved in the music and fine Arts program. During those years, Betsy was a member of the V.I.T.A.L. committee, served on the PTO, volunteered as room parent, helped lead Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, and was a baseball and soccer mom.
She is one to take action and offer her service where needed, as she is dedicated to giving back to her community. She currently is serving the Liverpool district as a member of the Community Stakeholders Group created by district in its search for a new superintendent. She is presently serving on the Liverpool Community Committee.
As a member of the board, Webb-Bronzetti will work hard, making a commitment towards continuous support and growth of services for the students and families of the district. She realizes the need to obtain and expand upon the information and resources available to our youth.
Webb-Bronzetti has the vision, communication skills, problem-solving skills, commitment, and experience to address the fiscal and educational challenges of our district. She is focused on developing strategies that will result in positive outcomes. Webb-Bronzetti has experience working with federal regulations and with educational and fiscal challenges.
Webb-Bronzetti understands the importance of bringing a diverse and skilled background to the position of school board member. Her experience of service on several employer advisory councils, placement consortiums, the Syracuse University Diversity Network Board, the Alumni Board of Trustees at SUNY Potsdam (where she completed her bachelor’s degree) and as vice president of St. Joseph’s Parish Counsel, have contributed to her ability to effectively serve the Liverpool school district community.
Webb-Bronzetti holds a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Syracuse University. Her work experience includes employment consultant, trainer and vocational rehabilitation counselor with the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as with OCM BOCES.
David Watson
My name is David Watson; I’m running for re-election for a position on the Board of Education.
I have lived in Liverpool for 25 years. My wife Jackie and I have been married for 25 years. We have two children: Jenni-Lyn, a 2008 graduate of LHS ,and Lauren, a 2012 graduate of LHS. Lauren is a freshman at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Penn.
Since 2001 I have been a member of various committees in the district: Donlin Drive/Long Branch Elementary Renovation Committee, Donlin Drive Character Education Committee, Superintendent Search Community Committee, Communication Committee, Stadium Committee, LHS Senior Daze Committee and Long Range Facilities Planning Committee. As a board member I’ve served on the following committees: Policy, Ethics and Audit, and I’m the board liaison to the Phase One Facilities Improvement Project.
My professional background is in customer service, purchasing/material/logistics management, construction estimating and project management. I am currently employed at Upstate Medical University as a contracts administrator.
The strengths I bring to the board are my interpersonal, communication and active listening skills. To be able to filter out distractions and really hear what is being said allows me to get a better sense of what the situation/concern is or what the facts are. To come to a fair decision, I use comprehensive information gathering and a common sense, logical and analytical approach in evaluating the information. I do not hesitate to ask questions, make an observation or take a stand based on complete and accurate facts.
My goal is to continue to build trust between the district and the community, and to maintain and guard the integrity of education. My opinion of the integrity of education is illustrated by the following Chinese Proverb: “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” Current state and federal regulations are eroding the integrity of education.
For the success of our students, a trusting relationship with the community needs to continue to be developed with the idea in everyone’s mind that it will always be a work in progress, but with open communication and transparency, we can achieve a great deal. Because of the hard work and enthusiasm of our students, dedication of our teachers and staff there are many positive events and activities occurring in the district on a daily basis and it should be a source of pride for all of us. The board, administration, students and community should not settle for mediocrity in our education or our teachers. We need to partner with the teachers’ union to develop methods to assist teachers to be more effective and
approachable. Accountability of our administrators and teachers is necessary because they are the technicians who are building our students. The fiscal challenges we all continue to face are intense and it is not getting any better.
The only way to handle this is for the community, board, administration, teachers and students to all work together. The political climate is making this tougher every day. It is allowing the following quote by John F. Kennedy to be easily forgotten “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”
Because of the death of my daughter Jenni-Lyn I’ve come to know the compassion, strength and integrity of the Liverpool community. This outpouring I’ve experienced shows me what this community can do in the time of need. The external factors affecting our students’ education in my view has created a time of need, the community needs to come together and make its voice heard and to continue until positive change has occurred.
I am excited by the potential for the Liverpool school district to be back on the list of the top five districts in the county. We’re getting better but there is still much to be accomplished. I hope you would allow me the honor to continue to serve you and respectfully ask for your vote on Tuesday, May 21.
John Kennedy
I am seeking a second term on the Liverpool Schools Board of Education. I was originally elected in May of 2010 and have served on the Finance, Audit and Contract Committees. I have also served as chairman of the Redistricting
Committee and maintain a close relationship with the educational professionals charged with implementing the board’s direction on this important issue.
My wife, Christine, and I have lived in Liverpool for the past 34 years and our four children were educated at Soule Road Elementary, Soule Road Middle and LHS. We are very proud of the education our children received at Liverpool and I hope to continue to contribute to the educational opportunities that Liverpool offers.
I am proud of the work the board has accomplished over the past three years, especially in view of the difficult financial challenges we have experienced. I am also optimistic about the future of Liverpool, in spite of some very difficult decisions that will confront our board and community.
Our board has been fully supportive of a rigorous and uncompromising process for hiring and retaining the best teachers and I will continue to support this philosophy.
Recently, the district, with board approval, re-instated Languages other than English (LOTE) in the seventh grade starting next year, an issue that I fully support. Finally, I hope that given prudent fiscal stewardship, the district may be able to re-instate universal pre-K in the near future.
My wife and I are active in the music program at Pope John XXIII Roman Catholic Church. I am a member of the board of directors at Microwave Filter Company and a process engineering consultant.
I hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton 1976) and an MBA from Syracuse University (1989).
I would be grateful for your support.
