Mahopac Central School District candidates outline priorities at PTO forum

At a PTO-sponsored candidates forum, five people seeking three seats on the Mahopac Central School District Board of Education described priorities including budget oversight, protecting special-education services, improving communication and balancing arts and athletics.

Susan Downey, a fifth-grade teacher at Boston Road who moderated the forum, said each candidate would give an opening statement and respond to four community-submitted questions under timed rules.

Vincent Pafaro, who identified himself as the owner of Vinco Builders, said he would push to better align community youth sports with high-school athletics, address pressing facility needs (he singled out middle- and high-school bathrooms), and expand career-and-technical pathways into trades. "MSA should align coaching and techniques...I'll push for shared field access, joint clinics with varsity coaches and players," Pafaro said in his opening remarks.

Lucy Masapra, introduced in the forum as a former board member and 40-year resident, framed her candidacy around financial oversight and community engagement. She questioned "the $1,200,000 sale of the district office" and asked what will be appropriated from "the 26,000,000 in reserve funds," and said the current budget proposal is "over $145,000,000," compared with about $119,000,000 a decade ago. Masapra said board members must be willing to ask hard questions rather than "rubber stamp" proposals.

Incumbent trustee Adam Savino emphasized clearer communication about the reasoning behind board decisions, the strain of "unfunded mandates" such as an electronic-bus requirement, and keeping classrooms focused on learning rather than political disputes. "Parents and community members deserve to have accessible resources and transparent information," Savino said.

Nicole Iacono, a parent and PTO volunteer who identified herself as serving on a district advocacy committee, said leadership, accountability through policies and procedures, and improved communication are her top priorities. She and Masapra both described using social media to raise budget and district concerns; Iacono said she has advocated for families both online and in meetings.

Kyle Potter, who said he works as a director of accounting overseeing a $90,000,000 operating budget, made transparency, trust and accountability central themes and said his budgeting experience would be useful on the board.

Candidates were asked how they would protect accommodations and support for students with special needs and mental-health needs and how they would balance arts and athletics. Several candidates called special-education services vital and urged stronger early-grade supports and partnership with service providers. Masapra and another candidate cited low ELA proficiency figures for early grades (the transcript includes a sixth-grade ELA proficiency figure of 39% and other K–6 percentages cited by candidates), and candidates said they would rely on data, teacher input and committee work to guide curriculum and resources.

On the subject of social media, candidates gave varied answers: Iacono and Masapra said they have used it to communicate about budget and district issues; Pafaro, Savino and Potter said they generally prefer direct conversation and are cautious about airing grievances online.

The forum concluded with closing statements urging turnout. Moderator Downey reminded attendees that the district election and budget vote will be held in person at Mahopac High School on Tuesday, May 20, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The forum transcript records several candidate claims about budgets, reserves and proficiency rates that conflict in the numbers reported by different speakers; the article attributes those figures to the speakers who raised them rather than reconciling the differences.