Rockville Centre educator named head of New York State Council of School Superintendents

Rockville Centre resident Patricia Sullivan-Kriss was recently named the president-elect of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.

Sullivan-Kriss, the superintendent of the Hauppauge Union Free School District, will serve as the president-elect of the advocacy group this year and as president next year.

“I’m honored to have the privilege to be able to represent my colleagues as an advocate for education, and specifically the children of the state of New York,” Sullivan-Kriss said. “We’re going through very difficult transitional times, with Common Core, with state assessments, with APPR. There are so many issues involved that there is no more important time to have the voices of superintendents at the table when decisions are being made.”

The council, which has more than 800 members, was created more than a century ago. It exists to help advocate for school and education matters in New York and on the federal level.

Sullivan-Kriss got her start in education as a special education teacher at the Wilson School and South Side Middle School. It was also where she met her husband. The two live in Rockville Centre, where they raised their four children.

She has also been an active member of the Rockville Centre education community. Sullivan-Kriss is a past-president of the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, which raises money to fund programs at the schools that the district otherwise couldn’t afford to do. She is still active with the organization.

“I really believe in the value of community service. It’s an integral part of what our communities are all about,” she said. “As a mom of four with very extensive jobs, [the Education Foundation] was something I felt I could do to give back.”