The seven volunteer members of the Huntington School 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. They are legally responsible for overseeing a budget of more than $139 million along with hundreds of full-time and part-time employees. It’s not an easy job.
Huntington trustees Christine Biernacki, Kelly Donovan, Bill Dwyer, Thomas Galvin, Michele Kustera, Xavier Palacios and Theresa Sullivan were recognized with an impressive performance by the Huntington Blue Devil marching band’s drumline as well as by Fashion III students and J. Taylor Finley Middle School seventh graders and Studio in Art students during this week’s business meeting.
Blue Devil marching band drumline members took the stage with their instruments and put on an awesome exhibition. The group included Jack Alba, Jake Amend, Jackson Danseglio, Benjamin Edgar-McNerney, Jasjeet Kaur, Samantha McGloin, Ibukun Olabomi, Sam Soric and Vittorio Vetere. They were accompanied by their instructor, Derek Schmelter.
Huntington High School Fashion & Design III students Aria Hannah, Anyi Hernandez Alverto, Isabella Lanfranco and Michelle Lopez prepared small gifts for each of the trustees, who all expressed their appreciation for the gorgeous items. Teacher Kim Valerio was on hand and beamed with pride.
The colorful and creative “Huntington School Board Has Heart” mural developed by Finley seventh grade artists and Studio in Art students was also well received. The students worked under the tutelage of teachers Karen Morea and Jessica Simms. The mural will be put on public display soon.
Huntington trustees, like their colleagues serving on 690 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 that it stems from their desire to see the young people of the community enjoy the most broad based 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.
