Huntington School Board Elects Officers and Reorganizes
Huntington School Board members elected trustees Bill Dwyer and Emily Rogan to serve as that body’s president and vice-president, respectively, during the group’s reorganization meeting on July 7 at Jack Abrams Intermediate School.
Mr. Dwyer and Mrs. Rogan, who both served in the same positions during the 2008/09 school year, were chosen in separate 5-2 votes with trustees John Paci and Elizabeth Black voting no in each case.
Trustees appointed Elizabeth Troffa as district clerk and Jill Miranda as district treasurer. The law firm of Guercio & Guercio was appointed to serve as general counsel for the 2009/10 school year with a retainer of $38,500 and a litigation rate of $230 per hour. Guercio & Guercio was also reappointed as district labor counsel with a retainer of $80,000 and an hourly rate of $230 for litigation services other than those related to collective bargaining units. All of the amounts are identical to last year’s rates.
R.S. Abrams & Co. LLP was appointed internal claims auditor at a rate of $2,588 per month, an increase from last year of $88 per month. The certified public accounting firm of Coughlin Foundotos Cullen & Danowski was reappointed as the district’s external auditor at a fee of $46,900. Sheehan & Company was reappointed to serve as Huntington’s internal auditor at a maximum fee of $40,000.
Trustees Elizabeth Black and Richard McGrath and district resident Lynn Kiraly were appointed to serve on the district audit committee. Corporate Medical Consultants P.C. (John M. Colletta, MD) was appointed to serve as the district physician with a retainer of $53,000. The firm is located on Wall Street in Huntington Village.
Trustees appointed members of the Committee on Pre-school Special Education (CPSE) and the Committee on Special Education. Trustee Kim Brown was chosen to review CPSE and CSE minutes, if needed, outside of the time frame of a regularly scheduled board meeting.
Trustees appointed Assistant Superintendent David H. Grackin to serve on an interim basis as the district’s Section 504 compliance officer relative to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Once the district hires an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, that individual will assume the Section 504 duties from Mr. Grackin. A vacancy was created when Dr. Barbara Lacey retired from the position on June 30.
Assistant Superintendent Joseph Giani was appointed Title IX compliance officer. Trustees also appointed Joanne Guerreri (J. Taylor Finley Middle School), Karen Behrman (Woodhull School) and Eileen DeAngelis (Huntington High School) as building level central treasurers. (A similar position was approved for Jack Abrams School but trustees have not yet filled it.) The positions were established at the behest of Sheehan and Company, the district’s internal auditors.
Trustees also took the following actions:
- Established cafeteria prices of 50 cents for milk, $1.25 for breakfast, $1.90 for elementary lunch and $2.25 for secondary lunch. The prices are identical to last year.
- Approved a list of 76 community organizations authorized to use district facilities.
- Approved a list of employees authorized to receive mileage reimbursement for district related travel.
- Appointed Margaret Creighton the district’s deputy treasurer as a stipend of $250. She will be able to sign checks in the absence of the district treasurer.
- Appointed Joan Sheedy the district’s purchasing agent at a stipend of $6,000. Mr. Grackin was appointed the deputy purchasing agent.
- Appointed Mrs. Troffa as the records access and record management officer.
- Appointed several dozen election clerks and inspectors for school district elections and referendums. Appointed Concetta Cagnino as a member of the Board of Registration and Catherine Bender and the chief inspector.
- Appointed Dr. Giani as the residency hearing officer.
- Designated Marybeth Robinette as chief information officer for State Education Department reporting purposes and appointed Nancy Allard as “backup” information officer.
- Appointed Eastern Suffolk BOCES to provide health and safety consultant services during the 2009/10 school year.
- Appointed Labor, Education and Community Services Agency as the district’s employee assistance program (EAP) for an annual fee of $16,150 to be paid in four quarterly installments of $4,037.50.
- Designated the Huntington News, The Long-Islander, the Times Beacon Record newspapers and Newsday as the newspapers authorized to receive the district’s legal notices. At the time of ad placement it will be determined which paper will be used.
- Approved Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, First National Bank of Long Island, State Bank, Citibank, MBIA – Class, Commerce Bank and Capital One to be used as school district depositories for various funds.
- Authorized the district’s continued participation in the Long Island Municipal Banking Consortium. Mr. Grackin said the consortium “represents a fine effort in inter-municipal cooperation.”
- Reviewed and reaffirmed the district’s investment and purchasing policies in accordance with state law.
- Readopted the district’s code of conduct.
- Approved securing excess bonding for the district treasurer ($1 million), deputy treasurer ($1 million), assistant superintendent for finance and management services ($1 million), four central treasurers ($500,000 each) and the district clerk ($200,000).
- Designated the superintendent and assistant superintendent for finance and management services as those responsible for certifying all payrolls for the 2009/10 school year.
- Approved petty cash accounts for building level administrators and department directors. In all, 22 such accounts were authorized amounting to $2,100 in total.
- Approved the district’s continued participation in the national school lunch and breakfast program.
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