The Mineola School District Board of Education held its reorganization meeting last week. Now that school is off for the summer, the halls of the schools in the district may be quiet, but the board will be busy, particularly with trying to get the new Willis Avenue School ready for the start of the next school year in September.

Returning to the board is John McGrath, who defeated Gia Lynne Hall in last month's election.

The board elected Steve Siwinski as its president. Siwinski had served one term and was re-elected in June when he ran unopposed. The board also chose to elect longtime member RoseAnn Buglione as its vice president.

The board now consists of Siwinski, Buglione, Donna Strein, Maryellen Williams and McGrath. Together with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Licopoli and the rest of the administration, the board will not have a rest considering all the changes that have taken place in the district.

Siwinski said the board's main priority for the summer is the Willis Avenue School. The district will be on a tight schedule when it comes to the school. Not only will the school have to be finished, but the district must move its furniture and educational materials so that the building will be ready to receive students in September. In addition, the board must settle the issue of transportation and set its bus routes as well as establish a flow of traffic around the school. The district will also have to move staff around since all the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes will be taking place at the new school. The board must also deal with the other elementary schools since there will be more space there because some of the students who normally would be going to the elementary schools will be going to Willis.

"The biggest thing on the plate this summer is opening that Willis Avenue School," said Siwinski. "We don't expect any delays with that. That's the priority at the moment. We're doing this all with what we have. We're not increasing any staffing or any bus drivers. That planning alone is a lot of work and it's all coming to fruition now."

Another priority is developing its curriculum and methods of assessment. Siwinski said the district is also working on the possibility of a five-year capital plan.

"I'm excited about it," said Siwinski.

It's certainly an exciting time to be a board member. Buglione has been on the board a number of years, but now she will be on the board when a new school opens in the district. She too believes opening the Willis School is the board's biggest priority over the summer. She also believes developing the curriculum, assessing students and teachers and moving forward with continuous improvement are other important matters the board is concerned with.

Aside from developing a district mission and strategic objectives, there are a number of other elements to the district that are new. In the area of personnel, the district hired an assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in Dom Mucci as well as a director of elementary education in Sheryl Gofman. The district also plans on adding a director of technology and a director of early childhood education to supervise the Willis Avenue School.

Another big change in the district was the implementation of a full-day kindergarten program. Among some of the future goals are defining a uniform curriculum, implementing an academically gifted program, phasing in the assessment plan for the strategic objectives and communicate each phase with the staff, students, parents and community and forming a uniform plan for staff development.

"It's easy to just look at the excitement of opening a new building, but to me, it's even more exciting to look at the changes that we've made and the growth we're beginning to see in the district," said Buglione. "I truly believe that as a district, for the first time, we're really moving in the right direction. The mission and the goals are all centered on the student, which is where they should be."