Floral Park-Bellerose School District Douglas Vigo, Board of Education Trustee Hello, my name is Douglas Vigo, I am a life long resident of the Floral Park-Bellerose community and a local product of our school district. My family moved to Bellerose Village in 1975, and they still live there today. I attended Floral Park Bellerose Elementary School and Sewanhaka High School, before earning my Degree from Adelphi University. After my wife and I married in 2001, we moved out of Floral Park, and into Glen Oaks Village, so that we could save money to buy a home. We always knew that we would return, as Floral Park would always be home for us. I am a firm believer that if possible, you should give back to your community and help out in any way that you can. Even the years while living in Glen Oaks, I was actively involved, taking a role on the Finance Committee, which prepared the budget and also served as an elected official on the Co-op’s Board of Directors. To me, volunteering and helping out just seems like the right thing to do. When my wife and I moved back to Floral Park, we were now a family of 5. With three children and a new home, we were happy to be back in the community of friends and the the educational system that we both loved while growing up. After serving two years as the PTA Treasurer at Floral Park-Bellerose, I ran for a vacated seat on the Board of Education. The role of a Board of Education Trustee is to manage the district finances and set policy. I felt that I could be an asset to our school district, by sharing my knowledge of finance and budgeting. Since being elected 3 years ago, I have proudly served the community and worked tirelessly with my fellow board members, administration and teachers. We spend countless hours ensuring that we maintain our high level of academic standards, provide a robust curriculum to our 1,600 students. Together we are all working towards one common goal, providing the best education possible for all the children in our district. Since 2013, we have implemented many new and exciting programs in our schools, each enhancing the students learning experience. One of the recent changes, which has been a goal for many years is full-day kindergarten for our district. This will only benefit our children and their early childhood development. And while other districts are reducing staff, we have continued to replace teachers who have left (15) and hired additions (16) to keep class sizes small and enhance the children's learning experience by adding computer and science labs. We have been able to establish a capital reserve fund, which has allowed us to make much needed repairs and upgrades to security and infrastructure, without the need for a bond or additional cost to the tax payer. In fact, these capital repairs allow us to receive 40% – 50% returned to the district in state aid. In our district we all work hard to maximize every nickel from every dollar, as we continue to be one of the lowest spending per pupil districts on Long Island. All of this cannot be accomplished alone, it takes a team. A team of dedicated Board Members, Administration and staff. Working together diligently to provide the best for our children and the residents of the Floral Park Bellerose School District. We provide strong financial governance and ensure that our collected school taxes are being maximized. We have stayed below the New York State tax cap, and since being on the Board of Education, we have not made any attempt to pierce the cap. The board members that I serve with are all parents in this town and have a vested interest in our district as we continue to build a center for quality education.