Video: School Board Candidates Face Off

Nearly two dozen residents, PTA members and officials came out for a  event Wednesday night to get to know the three school board candidates.

Incumbent Alberta Kozma was unable to attend, but a PTA official read a written statement on her behalf during opening remarks.

To listen to what both Daniel E. Armstrong and incumbent A. Gerald Schramek had to say about one of the biggest topics of the evening, take a look at the video at right.

Here is some background information on each candidate, according to his or her literature and remarks:

Daniel E. Armstrong: "If you give me the opportunity, on May 17, then I promise that by May of 2012 I will have tried to improve the system and keep tax-growth at zero."

• Has lived in Southeast for 13 years
• Has served on the Town of Southeast Planning Board for 12 years (his current term expires in 2016)
• Worked for the City of White Plains as a city planner for more than 30 years
• Has served as president of the Cage Teen Center, an alternative high school in White Plains
• Has worked as a certified instructor for the White Plains adult education program
• Has served on the Bryam Hills Board of Education

Alberta Kozma: "As a Board of Education trustee who believes in the system of public education as a paramount part of our democratic society, I have tried to assure that our students would be given an excellent education while always being cognizant of the financial implications to our tax payers."

• Has lived in Brewster for 28 years; raised three children, who attended Brewster schools
• Has worked in education since the 1960s
• Has served on the Brewster Board of Education for the past six years
• Has been involved in the PTA, scouting and little league organizations, religion classes and the construction of Castle Park 
• Has served on several Brewster schools committees, including the Architect Selection Committee, , Finance Committee, Policy Committee, Teen Safe-Driving Committee and Long-Range Planning Task Force Committee, among others.

A. Gerald Schramek: "I'm very proud to say that I've been an intricate part of making Brewster School District what it is today: a superior school district ... It's going to be up to each and every one of you ... to decide who has the most experience, who has the most integrity, who has the most capability, who has the most working knowledge of what it takes to be on a board of education."

• Graduated from Brewster High School, raised three children who attended Brewster schools
• Works as chief investigator for the
• Has served as both a member and president of the Brewster Board of Education in his 15 years of tenure; served on the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Board of Education for five years
• Has served on several Brewster school committees, including the Transportation Safety Committee, Policy Review Committee, Alternative Funding Committee and the district-wide Safety Committee
• Has been involved with little league organizations and the  
• Understands that "every penny counts," in part because he grew up in a "fixed-income home" with senior citizen parents