Pittsford school board candidates stress transparency, mental-health supports and budget stewardship at forum

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Three candidates seeking seats on the Pittsford Central School District Board of Education told a packed PTSA forum Thursday evening that transparency, student mental health and fiscal stewardship would guide their service if elected.

At the Meet the Candidates event organized by the Pittsford PTSA, incumbent board members Emily Kaye and David (Dave) Burke and challenger Laura Schulitz answered questions from moderator Amy Thomas of the Monroe County School Board Association about priorities ranging from special education staffing and school meals to cell-phone rules and library materials.

The candidates framed many of their remarks around the district’s budget and the constraints it creates. Burke, who noted the district’s roughly $150,000,000 annual budget and said about 70% of that comes from the local tax levy, said a core near-term priority is supporting new building and central-office leaders through professional development. Kaye said the district must remain “resourceful and thoughtful” while protecting programs, citing a recent community advocacy push that helped secure a 3% state aid increase. Schulitz emphasized transparency, saying she had trouble following a year of meeting minutes when preparing to run.

All three candidates raised student mental health and special-education staffing as ongoing concerns. Kaye called the “mental health crisis” a defining challenge for schools and pointed to partnerships with local providers and in-district supports such as tutoring centers and newly brought-in occupational and physical therapy staff. Burke said Pittsford’s special-education programs are strong but warned that labor shortages are widespread; he argued competitive pay and employer reputation help recruiting. Schulitz pointed to low pay for some 1:1 aides — citing figures mentioned at the forum of roughly $20,000 a year — and said compensation must be addressed to retain providers.

Transportation emerged as a practical concern: Burke said the district is “consistently understaffed on bus driving” and quipped, “I would hire a hundred bus drivers,” summarizing the urgency of route and staffing problems.

On cell-phone policy, candidates differed in emphasis. Kaye argued for a distraction-free learning environment and said any school policy should remove enforcement burden from teachers and guard against jeopardizing emergency communications; Burke advocated a “consistent and well defined policy” that accounts for differing needs of elementary and high school students and for parents who coordinate after-school logistics. Schulitz stressed parental need to contact children and described phones as important safety touchpoints.

Library materials and book challenges drew consistent resistance to outright bans. Schulitz said she does not “agree with book bans or content restrictions at all.” Kaye and Burke described work on a controversial-materials policy that centers expert review by librarians and a process that weighs educational value, with Kaye noting the district amended its policy multiple times after public feedback.

Candidates discussed school meals and the district’s choice to operate its own lunch program rather than participate in the federal National School Lunch Program. Kaye and Burke said the in-house program allows the district to prioritize food quality and agility; Kaye noted a pending New York State initiative to extend universal free meals that would depend on federal participation.

The candidates also discussed the superintendent role: all three praised the long-serving superintendent, Mike Piero, and said the district needs a superintendent who can build trust, collaborate across stakeholders and handle the job’s demanding schedule. Kaye credited Piero’s foresight and collaborative approach as a model for future hires.

The forum followed a strict time format: each candidate had two minutes for opening and closing statements and two minutes per question during the Q&A. Moderator Amy Thomas said organizers grouped similar community-submitted questions to give the public a broad sense of candidates’ positions. The forum recording will be posted to the district’s YouTube channel within 48 hours.