Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Mary Caitlin Wight
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Mary Caitlin Wight is an at-large representative on the Greece Central School District school board in New York. Wight won a first, one-year term in the at-large general election on May 16, 2017.
Wight participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2017
Four of the nine seats on the Greece Central School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on May 16, 2017. Three of the seats were up for election to regular three-year terms, and the fourth seat was up for election to a one-year term due to an appointment on the board.[1] In their bids for re-election, incumbents Bill Maloney, Sean McCabe, and Lloyd Ruffle III faced challengers Tracey Farmer, John Siwicki, and Mary Caitlin Wight. Incumbents Maloney and McCabe and newcomer Siwicki were elected to regular three-year terms. Wight was elected to the one-year term.[2][3]
Results
| Greece Central School District, At-large General Election, 3- and 1-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sean McCabe Incumbent |
21.09% | 1,761 |
| Bill Maloney Incumbent |
18.44% | 1,540 |
| John Siwicki |
17.00% | 1,420 |
| Mary Caitlin Wight |
16.88% | 1,410 |
| Tracey Farmer | 16.52% | 1,380 |
| Lloyd Ruffle III Incumbent | 10.06% | 840 |
| Total Votes | 8,351 | |
| Source: Greece Central School District, "Annual School Meeting, Budget Vote and School Board Election, May 16, 2017," accessed September 5, 2017 | ||
Funding
Wight reported no contributions or expenditures to the New York State Board of Elections in the election.[4]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Mary Caitlin Wight participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[5] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on May 8, 2017:
| “ | As a school board member, I would be a tireless advocate for our district in local, state, and federal governments to support our budget and to provide insights on educational policy. The school Board has 3 charges: (1) to provide for the education of our community’s children, (2) Properly manage the property and finances of the district, and (3) ensure the laws governing education are followed. I am well prepared to meet each of these charges through my deep understandings of educational research, federal and state education policy, and budgetary planning.[6][7] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in New York. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I think certain things on this chart should be placed with equal importance, but it forces us to rank them. It would actually rank in this manner: 1. Balancing budget/ closing achievement gap/ Improving post-secondary readiness/ Improving education for students with special needs 2. Expanding arts education & Improving relations with teachers ( I think both of these areas are essential, but are second because we are doing strong here currently) 3. Expanding school choice options[7] | ” |
| —Mary Caitlin Wight (May 8, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. We should be funding and supporting our public schools to support and serve all learners |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. We spend millions on testing our students for results that do not give us the nuanced picture of who these learners are. We should be using that money to empower our educators to best assess their learners and to provide support based on those results. We can continue to use standardized tests as a small measure of that larger picture, but we must move away from this high stakes process. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. I wish we could provide our amazing teachers with bonuses, but the concern emerges in the system that is developed or used to determine merit. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. We should be funding and supporting our public schools to support and serve all learners |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should only be used in the most extreme situations as it is our responsibility to educate all members of our community. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Greece Central School District, "Board of Education Members," accessed March 10, 2017
- ↑ Greece Central School District, "Spotlight: School Budget Passes!" accessed May 17, 2017
- ↑ Greece Central School District, "Learn More about the Proposed Budget; Board Candidates," accessed April 18, 2017
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance View Disclosure Reports: Candidate and Committee Search," accessed June 6, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Mary Caitlin Wight's responses," May 8, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Greece Central School District elections in 2017 | |
| Suffolk County, New York | |
| Election date: | May 16, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Bill Maloney • Incumbent, Sean McCabe • Incumbent, Lloyd Ruffle III • Tracey Farmer • John Siwicki • Mary Caitlin Wight |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
