After serving as Massapequa School Board president from 1995-97 and trustee from 1997-98, Christine Nottonson has been elected president for the 1998-99 school year replacing last year's president, Robert Thompson.

The board also elected Diane Krakoff for vice president and C. Richard Sorvillo for secretary during last week's organizational meeting.

After serving as president for two years, Nottonson declined the nomination for the 1997-98 school year stating she wanted to refocus her time and energy elsewhere.

"Its a lot of extra effort," said Nottonson about the school board presidency. "It takes a lot of coordination . . . It's typical management and I thought I had to refocus on why I came to the board and that was being a child advocate."

During the past year, Nottonson said she took time to attend some educational workshops and sit on the student advisory committee enabling her to work directly with children, which she hadn't done before.

Another reason she cited for declining the nomination for the presidency in 1997 was she did not feel she could fairly represent the board if her viewpoint didn't reflect that of the majority on the year's major issues. By turning down the position, Nottonson said she was able to freely voice her opinion on items such as the bond issue and the teacher's contract dispute without seeming like a "dictator."

However, when nominated for president this year, Nottonson did not hesistate to accept. "Perhaps with many of the issues behind us, we'll be able to refocus on education and that's why I came to the board," she said. "I do want to be the guide, the leader, the person who tries to move things through."

Meanwhile, Thompson says he's pleased with his accomplishments over the last year and is not bitter over not being elected president this year.

"It's been a very fruitful year," he said. "I've done everything I wanted to do."

Thompson said he's proud of having successfully navigated the board through a year that saw the end of a three year long labor dispute between the Massapequa teachers' union and the school district. He is also pleased that the bond issue is nearly ready for public scrutiny.

Thompson won the seat after both Nottonson and Trustee C. Richard Sorvillo declined presidential nominations last year. He stated that because he never sought the position, he doesn't feel a sense of loss over having been replaced and added that it isn't necessary for him to be president in order to accomplish his goals regarding the school board.

With issues like the formation of the Budget Finance Committee and the teachers' contract behind them, Thompson said that he now wants to "concentrate on making sure every child in the school district can read."

Meanwhile, newly elected board trustee, Arlene Martin, was sworn in last week nearly six weeks after winning the election. Martin expressed that she is happy to finally take her place next to the other board members and have the opportunity to voice her opinions.

Other issues discussed at last week's board meeting included the recommendation to cancel admission fees for athletic and some music events, extending school bus contracts, joining a consortium of school districts for bidding purposes, making budget and appropriation adjustments and awarding bids for material and equipment. The board is scheduled to act on these resolutions at next Thursday's meeting.