Huntington School Board Recognized for Service

The seven volunteer members of the Huntington School Board and the ex-officio student member of the board were recognized this past Monday night by Huntington UFSD artists and musicians, who saluted the trustees’ service to the community and their commitment to the academic and co-curricular programs that are the hallmark of the district.

Trustees do not earn salaries or stipends. They don’t receive health insurance or retirement benefits or reduced property taxes. They are legally responsible for overseeing a budget of more than $158 million along with hundreds of full-time and part-time employees. It’s not an easy job.

Huntington trustees Xavier Palacios, Theresa Sullivan, Kelly Donovan, Thomas Galvin, Annie Michaelian, Jenna Prada and Jon Weston and ex-officio student board member Emely Herrera Rivas were recognized. The trustees were presented with token gifts consisting of Huntington Blue Devil duffle gym bags and Huntington hats.

Huntington trustees, like their colleagues serving on 687 school boards across the state, are true volunteers. Elected by the community, they receive no compensation for their service other than the satisfaction they feel for seeing that the young people who live here receive the free and full public education to which they are entitled to under the state constitution.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul proclaimed School Board Recognition Week as a way of honoring the thousands of trustees who continually strive for improvement, excellence and progress in education.

Huntington’s trustees participate in dozens of meetings during the course of a typical year. They attend scores of school events, participate in training conferences related to their service and field countless phone calls and e-mails from residents anxious to share their opinions. All of them are a familiar presence around the district.

What could possibly motivate a person to volunteer their services for a position that involves so much time and work? Trustees state it stems from their desire to see that the young people of the community enjoy the broadest classroom education and co-curricular experiences possible. It’s not an easy task, but students across the district uniformly speak highly of the time they have spent on every grade level and in all eight school buildings.

There are 5,086 school board members in New York State.