Huntington School Board members have elected Jennifer Hebert and Christine Biernacki to serve as that body’s president and vice-president, respectively, during the 2019/20 school year.
Trustees took the action during the Board’s reorganization meeting this past Monday evening in the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School auditorium.
Jennifer Hebert Re-elected as BOE President
Mrs. Hebert was re-elected in May 2017 to serve her third three-year term on the Huntington School Board. Her fellow trustees elected her as president of the Board of Education in each of the past two years after she previously served as vice president for four years. She has an extensive background in education as a teacher and parent volunteer.
Mrs. Hebert and her husband, Jamie have lived in Huntington for 22 years. Together they have a son in his sophomore year at Huntington High School; a son who is a sophomore at Bentley University and a third son who is in his senior year at Johns Hopkins University.
A Long Island native, Mrs. Hebert graduated from the East Williston School District in 1986. She attended Tufts University in Boston, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1990 and a Master of Arts in Teaching in 1991.
Prior to moving back to Long Island from New England, Mrs. Hebert worked as a public school kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts for several years. She is currently the director of the pre-school program at St. John’s Nursery School in Huntington village. She has devoted countless volunteer hours to the Huntington School District as a PTA president and treasurer and as a district trustees.
Mrs. Hebert has also served on the district’s Long Range Planning Committee and regularly attended Board of Education meetings prior to her election. As a trustee, she has served on the district’s audit committee.
Mrs. Hebert is widely known as a creative thinker who enjoys learning about all aspects of the district and its educational program and listening to all sides of every issue. She is particularly passionate about public school education and believes the learning experience offered to Huntington students should be among the finest in the nation.
Christine Biernacki Elected as BOE Vice-President
Mrs. Biernacki was re-elected in May 2018 to serve a second three year term on the Huntington School Board. Her fellow trustees elected her as vice president of the Board of Education for 2019/20. She is a longtime volunteer in the Huntington School District, including serving as the PTA Council’s president.
Raised in the town of Huntington, Mrs. Biernacki attended school in South Huntington. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Connecticut and a Juris Doctor from the Hofstra University School of Law. She is a partner in a New York City law firm.
Mrs. Biernacki and her husband, who is a 1983 graduate of Huntington High School, live with their two children in Halesite. They have two children attending Huntington High School, including a daughter who is a junior and a son, who is in his freshman year.
Over the years, Mrs. Biernacki has served on the district Safety and Shared Decision Making Committees and on the Committee for Special Education.
Mrs. Biernacki’s service to the community’s children predates the start of her own family. She served president of the Huntington Sanctuary Project’s advisory board. Mrs. Biernacki and her husband offered their house as a host home for Sanctuary, opening their doors to runaway youth so that the families could participate in mediation to resolve their issues and bring the youngster home.
Mrs. Biernacki has also served as president of the Town of Huntington’s Youth Bureau Board. She was recognized for her work with runaway and homeless youth by the Association of New York State Youth Bureaus and the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services.
A longtime attendee of Huntington School Board meetings, forums and conferences, Mrs. Biernacki has become well versed in many education issues. She has advocated for reforms in school aid, teacher evaluation and special education, among other areas. She comes from a family filled with educators and strives to work in a manner that will honor that tradition.
