Talking With: Babylon BOE President Dominic Bencivenga

In this second installment of Patch’s “Talking With” series, Patch talks with the new Babylon School Board of Education president about challenges ahead.

Schools districts statewide are grappling with tremendous budget challenges amidst mandates to boost state testing levels and implement teacher evaluation programs.

The Babylon School Board of Education boasts three new members this year as well as a new president so Patch spent time talking with Dominic P. Bencivenga about district issues, budget woes and what’s ahead for the district. Bencivenga is in his second year as a board member and replaced Henry Brunjes who chose not to seek re-election last spring.

Patch: So it’s your first year as president and it’s not going to be an easy one given budget issues. Is that the biggest challenge facing the district?  

Bencivenga: It’s going to be challenging for different reasons. The budget, the 2 percent tax levy cap, the teacher’s contract negotiations and the search for a new superintendent. It’s all happening this year.  

Patch: Given all that, what’s the good news?

Bencivenga: We have a terrific school board, strong administration and great teachers whose hearts are in the right place. It's a very good group of people that wants to do the right thing for our children. We're working together to make it happen.  

Patch: The BOE is holding budget forums and meeting the state-mandated tax cap appears to be the biggest issue for Babylon as well as all other districts. What’s your take on the tax cap mandate?

Bencivenga: I think the ramifications are going to be significant and severe, and that it serves as an opening salvo into a bigger discussion about how school districts in New York State are funded in the future.  

Patch:  Have you mapped out any goals for yourself as president this year?

Bencivenga: The main goal is to provide the best education we can to our students and deliver the best value to the taxpayers.  

Patch: There was discussion last year at meetings where residents and parents expressed frustration with the board and the district administration over decision making and getting more information on why decisions were made. How are you tackling that issue?  

Bencivenga: I don't necessarily agree with those criticisms, and I think there were a lot of factors at play last year. I can say the members of that board absolutely had the best interest of children in mind in all their decision making, and based on the survey we conducted, the overall satisfaction rate with the district was very high. But like anything else, you can always improve. We are focused, as a board, on improving communication with the community and we want to foster a better relationship between the community and board. We want to be responsive and to provide a little more insight on how and why decisions are made. One thing we’re doing is following up on questions. If someone comes to a meeting, asks a question and we don't have the answer at hand, we provide the answer at the next meeting. I think that has worked out very well.