In addition to welcoming Gerard W. Dempsey as its new interim superintendent, the Roslyn School District also has a new president and vice president for its school board.

At the July 6 meeting, Dani Kline and Dr. Ronald Smith were named, respectively, president and vice president of the board. They have replaced Stanley Stern and Judith Wilner. Ms. Kline said the BOE would, at its yearly organizational meeting, decide who will continue to serve at those two top spots.

Dani Kline was elected to the BOE in 2004, when the embezzlement scandal first broke. Dr. Smith was elected in the most recent election, another contest where the scandal and its shocking revelations continued to play a major role.

A top priority for the BOE has been the ongoing search for a permanent superintendent. This past June, it appeared that the BOE had found such a superintendent in Dr. Martin Brooks, an educator in the Plainview District. Right as Dr. Brooks was to be announced as the new Roslyn superintendent, he withdrew his name from consideration. That announcement coincided when rumors concerning the new superintendent's salary began to surface.

However, Ms. Kline said that there is no set timetable for selecting a new superintendent. The BOE, currently, is not engaged in an active superintendent's search, she said. Instead, the BOE is committed to working with Gerard Dempsey on a whole array of issues.

In the last election, Ms. Kline was re-elected to the BOE with 2,317 votes, making her the top vote-getter in the 2006 contest. Dr. Smith was elected to the board with 2,125 votes. Ms. Kline's strong support among school district residents, along with her experience, was a key factor in her promotion to board president. Dr. Smith's own previous experience as a superintendent worked heavily in the decision to make him board vice president.

For now, Ms. Kline said, the new BOE will focus on business, educational, curriculum, and developmental goals for the district. She emphasized that the BOE will work with school district staff members, administrators, and faculty, but also with parents, students and school district residents on those same matters. Most importantly, the BOE, Ms. Kline added, wants to reach a consensus on all issues, which also reflects the wishes of the school district community.

Although the ramifications of the embezzlement scandal have caused school district residents to reject, at least initially, two of the three last budgets, Ms. Kline feels that public debates have become less contentious than in previous years. "There's a different tone [at the meetings]," she said. "The old animosity isn't there anymore."

A resident of Roslyn Heights for the past 16 years, Dr. Smith, prior to his election on the BOE, has been named chairman of the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC). In 2003, he retired after having served for 13 years as superintendent of schools in the Merrick School District. Prior to that, he was an assistant superintendent in the Levittown School District for 15 years.