District 24 to add curriculum director

With increasing demands from the Common Core Learning Standards, Race to the Top and new teacher evaluations, District 24 is looking to add a full-time curriculum director next year.

The Valley Stream elementary district has not had a full-time curriculum leader since Diana Pirrone retired in 2003 as the assistant superintendent for curriculum. Since then, Superintendent Dr. Edward Fale, Assistant Superintendent Dan Onorato and the three principals have split curriculum responsibilities, along with support from Nassau County BOCES.

“The amount of day-to-day work in curriculum, instruction and assessment increased,” Fale said. “Therefore, the need for a full-time curriculum director was in order.”

In the draft $27.7 million budget that the Board of Education is considering for the 2012-13 school year, a full-time curriculum director would be included, though Fale said he has not yet decided what the position would be called. He also said that it would be his recommendation to promote one of the three principals to that position.

If that is the case, Fale said he would want to make the appointment shortly after the budget vote in May, assuming that the budget passes. That way, he said, district officials can immediately begin interviewing for a new principal, so that person would be ready to start on July 1.

This year, District 24 had Robert W. Carbonaro School Principal Dr. Lisa Conte take on a part-time curriculum leadership role. She has attended numerous conferences across the state, and spent time in the district training teachers and fellow administrators.

Board of Education Vice President Tony Iadevaio said that Conte does this in addition to serving as principal of Carbonaro, although she does have fourth-grade teacher Jim Friel to run the building when she is away. “It was just too much for a part-time position,” Iadevaio said of curriculum director. “If we have the money, let’s look at making this into a full-time position.”

Fale said that the new Common Core Learning Standards, which districts must adopt, means a lot of curriculum revisions must take place. There will also be new assessments within the next few years.