East Meadow PTA Council installs a familiar face

While dozens of local organization and elected leaders, family members and East Meadow School District officials settled into their seats at Baldwin’s Coral House on June 14, Robin Fitzpatrick prepared to address them as the East Meadow Parent Teacher Association Council’s newest president.

Fitzpatrick, 46, who will take the helm of the council for the 2017-18 term, is no stranger to the PTA Council. “I’ve actually been a PTA member for a total of 10 years now,” she said with a laugh. “So the East Meadow School District community knows me very well.”

Fitzpatrick first got involved in the PTA when her son and daughter were students at Barnum Woods Elementary School. There she advocated for children’s educational rights and worked with local elected officials.

“I have become more passionate about all we do as part of the largest child advocacy organization in the world,” Fitzpatrick told the crowd at the Coral House. “Whether it [was] lobbying to get turning arrows at a major intersection to ensure the safety of our children by standing on a corner for hours with one of our legislators, or meeting with school and community leaders to discuss ways to increase tolerance in our schools.”

She eventually moved on to the PTA Council, serving as its vice president for four years while working as an emergency medical technician in the East Meadow Fire Department. “One of my goals as president is to bring more emergency fire prevention programs to our schools through the East Meadow Fire Department,” she said. “It’s incredibly important for our children to know what to do when there’s a fire emergency. You’d be surprised how many of them freeze in the moment or don’t know what to do.”

Fitzpatrick reminded her peers that the PTA is “not just bake sale ladies. Actually, we are far from it.” She vowed to continue the home-to-school connection to ensure transparency and open communication throughout the school district, an issue that parents do not take lightly after many concluded that Superintendent Leon J. Campo’s successor, Louis DeAngelo, failed to do so.
Fitzpatrick, who has worked alongside outgoing Council President Donna La Scala for the past four years, welcomed incoming Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Card and bade Campo farewell.

“Today is one of those days that brings smiles and tears,” La Scala told the crowd. “A bittersweet reflection of what has passed, and possibilities of the future.”

She added that working alongside Campo to rebuild the district when he was coaxed out of retirement to return as superintendent in July 2015 was both rewarding and difficult. But, La Scala said, the purpose of the council was to reconnect parents and the district, and they succeeded. “There is not a doubt in my mind that Robin [will] be able to continue this connection,” she said. “There is no better person to hand over the reins to. The district is starting fresh with a new superintendent and a new PTA Council president. And I have a feeling the success will continue.”

Although La Scala’s term is over, she will continue to work alongside parents, Card and the Board of Education as director of the East Meadow Sustaining Motivation Achievement Resiliency and Tolerance Coalition. Along with parents, students, community and business leaders, the SMART Coalition aims to make positive changes in the community by hosting programs that raise awareness of drug and alcohol abuse.

“I’m very excited to continue to work with Donna on the SMART Coalition,” Fitzpatrick said. “Donna is a wonderful leader. She’s incredibly passionate about the district and community. It’s been a pleasure working alongside her.”
The SMART Coalition was established earlier this year, and has been growing ever since. Fitzpatrick said that the PTA Council plans to become more involved in the community, and she thanked the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club for their support.

“The PTA slogan, ‘Every Child, One Voice,’ is so much more than just words on a piece of paper,” Fitzpatrick said. “It is a culture that I am proud to say we have strongly embraced here in East Meadow.”