The Glen Cove Board of Education reorganizational meeting of July 11 was the first meeting in a very long time with a full board, as Fred Moore was sworn in as the newest board member. It was also the first official meeting for Dr. Larry Aronstein, newly appointed superintendent of schools, Dr. Shari Camhi, new assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and technology.

Although not represented at this meeting, the law firm of Ingerman Smith LLP, a firm well known for providing legal services to numerous educational clients, notably school districts located throughout the New York region as well as colleges, universities, cooperative education institutions, and libraries, has been retained as new legal counsel. The firm is also well-versed in labor proceedings, which will serve the district well at contract negotiation time.

Richard Tortorici was elected president of the board for the 2005-2006 school year, a position to which he is no stranger, and Carol Sucharski retained the position of vice president.

Mr. Tortorici was a member of the Glen Cove School Board from 1987 until 1992 and president from1989 until 1992, when he decided not to run again. Mr. Tortorici made this statement regarding his everything-old-is-new-again position: "I am looking forward to a very exciting year. Under Janet Bates-Wilkins' leadership, we hired a new administrative team, which I am very, very pleased and excited about. Janet set the wheels in motion to revamp the board and bring us closer together. The board was not working well together, and that has greatly improved. Although members are not always in agreement on everything, our goals are the same. Along with Dr. Cicchelli, Janet pushed to move the fifth grade to the elementary schools, a very positive action for the district. Things are definitely looking up, even on austerity. We've learned to manage money better. With a new superintendent, assistant superintendent and principal at the middle school, I am looking forward to a very successful year."

Outgoing board president Janet Bates-Wilkins, who has served on the board of education for a number of years, two years as president, made this statement: "It has been a privilege for me to serve as president of the Glen Cove Board of Education for the past two years. The board has put in tremendous effort and time over the past year, and has laid the groundwork for a strong and promising future for the school district.

"The search for a new superintendent of schools was a very thorough and diligent effort, with countless hours of interviews, discussions and site visits. With the great number of superintendent searches taking place on Long Island, Glen Cove remained ahead of most in timing, allowing us to not only hire the best candidate based on community input, but Dr. Aronstein was also a finalist candidate in eight other school district searches. His experience, professional reputation and instructional expertise will be a tremendous asset for our district.

"In response to New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's recommendation to rotate independent auditors, the board again was ahead of the curve in interviewing and hiring Callaghan Nawrocki LLP, well before a deluge of school districts were forced to change auditors as a result of the comptroller's indictment of Miller Lilly and Pearce (the original auditors for Roslyn School District).

"The board executed an $8 million performance contract with Johnson Controls for energy saving capital improvements at no cost to taxpayers. The board approved the relocation of the fifth grade from the Finley Middle School building to the Landing and Connolly elementary school buildings, as an educationally, developmentally and socially sound improvement for students in all three affected buildings. We sought legislative support and grants for the school district realizing $367,000 from State Senator Carl Marcellino and State Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, $200,000 of which will bring Connolly school up to ADA compliance.

"It was my pleasure to nominate Richard Tortorici for president of the 2005-06 school year. Richard has been outspoken, pragmatic, thoughtful, ethical, fair and open-minded in all board dealings. He has attended NYS School Board Association professional and update seminars, Comptroller Hevesi's financial teleconference, and New York State grades 3-8 testing update for community and board members. He is dedicated to the children, community and taxpayers of Glen Cove. I know our board will benefit from his leadership style and philosophy. I thank Vice-President Carol Sucharski for her great time and effort over this past year, and I thank the board for their support and trust. The school district has much to look forward to in the years ahead."

In other news, the Glen Cove Record Pilot was retained as the official newspaper for the Glen Cove School District for the second year in a row for the 2005-2006 school year.

The school board is on summer schedule and as such, the next special meeting of the board will be held on Monday, July 25 and the next public meeting on Monday, Aug. 22. Both meetings will be held at the high school at 7:30 p.m.