Updated May 8, 9:15pm: Tuesday evening's Meet the Candidate Forum will be available for viewing via Zoom here.

This Tuesday, May 9, the Northport-East Northport PTA Council will hold its annual Meet the Candidates forum, an opportunity for candidates for the Board of Education to introduce themselves to a live audience and speak on matters important to voters. There are three candidates running for two trustee seats this year: incumbents David Badanes and Donna McNaughton are looking to stay on the board for another term while Ocean Avenue parent Amanda Cascio is running for the first time.

Each candidate will be given the opportunity to make an opening statement at the forum, after which all candidates will be asked questions by a moderator on a variety of topics. District residents may submit questions to the candidates by sending them via email to the PTA Council at info@nenptacouncil.org. Questions must be submitted by 5pm on Thursday, May 4 in order to be considered; according to the PTA Council, questions may be edited or combined by Council to save time and if deemed necessary, due to inappropriateness, discarded.

No questions will be addressed to an individual candidate but to the group of candidates as whole, said Council reps. Last year, questions were asked in a round-robin format in the order candidates would appear on the ballot. The candidate given the question first had one minute to respond and all other candidates were allotted thirty seconds to weigh in.

Questions can also be submitted in person at the event, and if time permits, may be asked at the forum.

This year's event will take place from 7:30 to 9:30pm at the William J. Brosnan Building, located at 158 Laurel Avenue, Northport. It will also be broadcast over Zoom, a link to join will be provided here once available. The budget vote and election of trustees is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16. More information can be found on the district website here.