North Merrick School Board Candidate: George "Skip" Hale

Editor's Note: This article was written by George Hale.

My name is George “Skip” Haile.

My wife Sheila, and I have lived in the North Merrick Community for close to 20 years. I am proud to say, I am a lifelong Merrick Resident – purchasing the house I grew up in, in 1994. Sheila and I have two children, Nicholas, a freshman at Sacred Heart University, and a runner on the Division 1 Cross Country Team and Cole, currently in eighth grade and a participant on the Merrick Ave Middle School Soccer, Wrestling and Track teams along with a swimmer for the High School Team.

Over the past 15 years I have been an active volunteer in Merrick’s youth sports organizations, starting as a coach with when my older son was four. I am now the current President of the successful Merrick PAL Travel Soccer Program, a program that now includes two additional growth oriented divisions; Developmental and the Enrichment program.

I received my degree from Manhattanville College and currently am an Operations Manager at Reed Exhibitions, producing event s such as the Chicago based Comic Con, Book America Expo, International Vision Events and numerous others throughout the United States.

Over the past three years I have had the privilege and honor to be a trustee on the North Merrick School Board with the current responsibility of Vice President. I am so proud to be part of the team of seven supporting the educational excellence our school system is now recognized for.

Additionally, I was honored by my fellow board members to entrust me as their representative on the Bellmore Merrick Central High School Board for the past two years. It is an honor and privilege to be part of the High School Board. The opportunity allows me to bridge the needs of the grade schools and the evolving educational goals of our Middle School, and High School and college-bound students.

I am running again because I believe in the kids. I believe our hard work makes a difference to each student. Topics such as testing, unfunded mandates, APPR and New York State Tax Levy are important and need careful consideration.  These critical times for our children require the board to take the time to evaluate and educate the community, providing carefully considered options to parents so they can make the right decision for their families.

I pledge to continue to educate myself on these topics, to continue to talk with teachers and administrative teams in our area and to help make sure we effectively represent our beliefs on what is best for our children. I cannot stress enough that the amount of current testing demands on our children and the NY State Tax Levy Cap will be tough hurdles for our community,  but we must continue to learn and educate ourselves so we can make a fair and thoughtful decision.

Thank you so much for the honor for being on the board. Please join myself and the entire North Merrick School Board at our monthly meetings so we can all be part of the discussion to move our children forward.