The Roslyn School District's Board of Education has appointed Gerard W. Dempsey, Jr. as the district's latest interim superintendent.

At the July 25 meeting, the BOE gave unanimous approval to the selection. Dempsey replaces David J. Helme, who served as the district's superintendent for the past two years.

As with Helme, Dempsey comes to Roslyn with previous experience as a superintendent. He served as superintendent of the Farmingdale schools for 11 years, retiring in 2001. As with David Helme, Dempsey is now out of retirement and temporarily, at least, back into his old role as a superintendent. Dempsey has signed a contract to serve until at least June 2007. "I'll be here as long as they need me," he said.

Since his retirement from the Farmingdale district, Dempsey has been involved with Long Island School Leadership Center and as a consultant for BOCES. However, he is glad to be back working as a superintendent.

"I decided I really wanted to return to an interim superintendent's position," he told The Roslyn News. "I wanted to work directly with students," adding that he also looks forward to once again being involved with "school outcome" and working with teachers, students, and parents.

"Students are about tomorrow," he continued, "and school districts have to plan that way. I would like to work closely with the board, helping them to grow in their jobs."

Dempsey, of course, is aware of the turmoil that has surrounded the Roslyn School District since the embezzlement scandal broke, but he hopes to continue the shift, as he put it, from the problems of the past to the future.

"Economic challenges are everywhere," he noted. "We have to build up trust from the community."

Dempsey's introduction to the school district and the community came at a meet and greet session held July 20 on school district grounds. Among his first impressions of the Roslyn district, Dempsey said, are "the similarities among many educational communities, the fact that they take pride in things that have occurred."

The Roslyn district, Dempsey continued, is sensitive about the "negative experience" of the embezzlement scandal. However, Dempsey said that the new focus should be to build around the district's current strengths.

In all, the work of a superintendent, Dempsey added, is to communicate to all school district personnel that "we all have a common charge to make improvements."

During his long career in education, Dempsey has taught social studies and the humanities at public schools in New York City, Plainedge, Northport, and Huntington. He was also both a junior high school principal and high school assistant principal in the Huntington schools, director of instruction in the Hicksville schools, and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in Huntington.

Dempsey has degrees from both Fordham University and SUNY Stony Brook. Since his retirement from the Farmingdale schools, Dempsey, as noted, has served as director of the Long Island School Leadership Center and as a consultant for BOCES and other school districts. In addition, he has served as executive director of Instructional Support Services for Western Suffolk BOCES.

The only reason the BOE has had to hire another temporary superintendent is because its choice for a permanent position, Dr. Martin Brooks, abruptly removed his name from consideration to that post.

At the June 22 BOE meeting, it was expected that Dr. Brooks, an educator in the Plainview School District, would be named superintendent. Stanley Stern, the then-president of the BOE, said Dr. Brooks withdrew his candidacy due to the "lack of unanimity regarding the terms of the contract with the board."

The announcement came on the heels of rumors that Dr. Brooks' overall salary as Roslyn superintendent would reach as high as $400,000. Stern dismissed those rumors, although he did acknowledge that the 2006-07 budget did included a provision allowing for $100,000 in extra expenses for the superintendent's position. Stern said that New York State law mandates that school boards write in certain benefits to a superintendent's contract.