Baglio Appointed Interim Guidance Director
Huntington School Board members filled a five-and-a-half month vacancy when trustees voted unanimously to appoint retired administrator Benedict Baglio as interim district director of guidance for the remainder of the school year.
The post has been vacant since July 1 following the resignation of Peter Paternostro who left to take a similar position in the Amityville school district.
The newly appointed administrator graduated from Adelphi University in 1968 with a B.A. degree in natural sciences. He obtained a master’s degree in counseling and a professional diploma at Long Island University – C.W. Post College in 1972 and 1977, respectively. He earned an Ed.D. in foundations, leadership and policy studies at Hofstra University in 2003.
Dr. Baglio began his career in the Sachem school district in 1968, working as a junior high school science teacher until 1974 when he became a secondary grade level guidance counselor. In 1982 he joined the administrative team in the Patchogue-Medford school district as director of guidance and health services.
In 1990, Dr. Baglio was given additional supervisory responsibilities, overseeing psychologists, social workers and drug and alcohol prevention services, including grant application and administration. In 1998 he took on even more duties including business education, the gifted and talented program, ESL and various grant programs.
After retiring from Patchogue-Medford, he has worked as a consultant for guidance services in the Cold Spring Harbor school district (2004/05) and the Oyster Bay-East Norwich and Bellmore-Merrick school districts (2005/06). He was the interim director of guidance in the Brentwood school district in 2006/07.
As an undergraduate student at Adelphi, Dr. Baglio was the vice-president and president of the Class of 1968. He also served as president of Alpha Sigma Delta Fraternity and was chairman of the Dean’s Inter-fraternity Council.
As a teacher in the Sachem school district, he was a class advisor and the student government advisor. In the Patchogue-Medford school district he founded a number of programs, including one for robotics and another for corporate internships. He also served on various BOCES committees and was president of the Suffolk County Directors of Guidance Assn.
Huntington’s interim guidance director has been an adjunct professor at Hofstra, C.W. Post and Manhattan College. He has also served in a number of posts with The College Board.
Dr. Baglio is a published author. His book, A String of Pearls has been described as a “novel of historical fiction that reviews the attack on Pearl Harbor from a revisionist lens, using the lifespan of the battleship USS ARIZONA as its temporal context, from its keel laying to its destruction at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.”
Another book, The Kids Are The Easy Part – An Insider’s Perspective on School Reform represents Dr. Baglio’s view “on the effectiveness of educational reform and [offers] suggestions to build systemic integrity into educational systems.”
Trustees set Dr. Baglio’s salary at $630 per diem for the remainder of the school year.
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