RVC school board reorganizes

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The Rockville Centre Board of Education hosted its re-organizational meeting on July 1, assigning new positions to the five-member board. Also on the itinerary was the legal representation for the district for the 2021-2022 school year.

The trustees unanimously elected John O’Shea as board president, while. Christine Ferazani was installed as vice president by a 3-2 vote over Trustee Kelly Barry, who was unanimously voted in as the secretary of the board.

Marylou Celeberti was named the district clerk for the 2021-22 school year. Robert Bartels, the assistant superintendent for the district, was also unanimously named deputy treasurer for the upcoming school year.

As the district begins the process of planning for who will serve as the school board’s legal representatives for the next school year, Feranzi proposed naming current counsel Ingerman Smith as interim attorney for the district. The firm already represents the district, but Ferazani said she believed the interim tag would provide more flexibility until the request for proposals negotiating process is finished.

“Having gone through it with other RFPs, it shouldn’t take that long for us to figure out which attorney we will go with,” Ferazani said. “But for now, appointing an interim attorney seems to be the appropriate course of action.” Trustee Tara Hackett worried that the interim tag might alienate Smith.

“We’ve had a long-standing, good history with Ingerman. I’ve been pleased working with them as a president,” Hackett said. “I appreciate what they have done for us.”

Many board members chimed in, and it eventually unanimously passed the measure to send out an RFP later this year.