On June 9, residents will elect three members of the Fayetteville-Manlius School District Board of Education.
The board is the official policy-making body of the school district. It is responsible for carrying out the laws and regulations pertaining to the education of the community’s children. It adopts school district policy, curriculum and programs of study, approves the hiring of all personnel and establishes the conditions of employment.
In addition, the board has the responsibility of maintaining facilities, establishing an annual budget and setting a tax levy. The school board adopts a proposed operating budget each year at a public meeting. Eligible residents then have the opportunity to vote upon the proposal.
The F-M Board of Education is comprised of nine school district residents who are elected by voters to three-year terms in an annual election.
Terms are staggered so that three members are elected each year. Board members are not compensated for their work.
In addition to the elected members, the board includes a non-voting student member selected each year by the administration to serve a one-year term. The student, who must be a senior at F-M High School, attends all public meetings and is allowed to participate in all public discussions.
Four candidates filed nominating petitions for the three available seats. The three with the highest number of votes will serve three-year terms, beginning July 1, 2020.
Jason Catalino
Jason Catalino, of Fayetteville, is seeking his first term on the F-M Board of Education. He has lived in the district for seven years, and he and his wife, Karrie, have three children: two enrolled at Wellwood Middle School and one at Mott Road Elementary School.
Catalino is an accounting manager with National Grid and has more than 20 years of experience as a certified public accountant. He earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from SUNY Geneseo and a master’s degree in business administration from LeMoyne College.
Catalino previously served as an assistant coach for F-M Little League and is a member of the board for the Syracuse Chapter of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). Over the past six years, he has been an active volunteer for various Mott Road Home and School Association (HSA) events.
Rebecca Cohen
Rebecca Cohen, of Fayetteville, is seeking her second term on the F-M Board of Education. She and her husband, Dr. Brendan McGinn, have three children who attend Fayetteville Elementary School.
Cohen is a Fayetteville-Manlius High School graduate. She attended Brown University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in history. She also earned her juris doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
Cohen is an attorney with Bousquet Holstein PLLC, where she practices with the Employment and Immigration practice groups. She also has experience in the areas of securities and antitrust class action litigation from practicing at various New York City firms. She previously served as associate director, corporate and foundation relations at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and as deputy director of development for the Reach Out and Read National Center in Boston. Ms. Cohen is an active pro bono volunteer with the Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County. She is a board member of Medi Teddy, Inc, a nonprofit providing comfort to pediatric I.V. and enteral feeding patients. She previously served on the board for the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, where she chaired the center’s Early Childhood Development Program Committee. Cohen is a certified mediator, having mediated cases in New York City courts, public schools and community mediation centers.
Kelly Fumarola
Kelly Fumarola, of Fayetteville, is seeking her second term on the F-M Board of Education. She has lived in the district for 14 years, and she and her husband, Adam, have two children, one enrolled at Wellwood Middle School and the other at Fayetteville-Manlius High School. She served on the F-M Community Facility Task Force and is a former co-vice president and president of Fayetteville Elementary School’s Home and School Association.
Fumarola graduated from Ramapo High School in Spring Valley, New York, and received a bachelor of arts degree in economics and a master of science degree in education, both from the State University of New York at Binghamton University. She currently serves as director of development at a local not-for-profit organization.
Christopher P. McKee
Christopher P. McKee, of Manlius, is seeking his first term on the F-M Board of Education. He has lived in the district for four years. He and his wife, Margaret, have two children, one enrolled in a prekindergarten program and the other at Enders Road Elementary School.
McKee is a capture manager at GCubed Enterprises, Inc. where he provides strategic growth plans for the company, identifying the resources required to pursue opportunities, establish required infrastructure, processes and plans necessary, and manages their execution.
He graduated from the New Jersey State Police Training Commission for Attorney General’s Office Juvenile Justice Commission. He attended Satellite and Cellular Communication School, serving in combat arms units, and has multiple certifications in grants, proposal and capture management.
McKee served on the F-M Health & Safety Committee from 2018 and 2020, representing the Enders Road Elementary School Home and School Association. He also regularly attends school, town and village board meetings.