Candidates back clear policies on hate speech, special‑education protections and inclusive schools

Candidates at the Shoreham‑Wading River Meet the Candidates night broadly agreed the board must maintain clear policies and oversight to address hate speech, discrimination and student safety.

Henry Perez urged a "zero tolerance" approach and said the board should enforce existing policy and character education programs. "We should continue to enforce that," he said of anti‑discrimination policy.

Erin Saunders Morano and other candidates called for comprehensive, consistently applied policies and accountability. "We need to come up with comprehensive policy. We need to follow that to a T," Morano said, adding that every child should feel safe.

Incumbent Katie Anderson described the district’s DASA reporting process and state requirements for workplace violence reporting and staff training: "If we happen to come across ... they should be encouraged immediately to fill out a DASA form... all staff is supposed to know how to report these issues and where to find the forms in the district." Several candidates also said gender‑neutral restrooms are already available and urged following state guidance and engaging the community on any changes.

Candidates presented positions intended for policy oversight; no board policy changes were proposed or adopted at the forum. Attendees were left with candidate positions that would guide their potential votes if elected.