After 40 years, saying goodbye to the Island Park School District

After over four decades of service to the Island Park School District, Nick DeSibio, the district’s counsel, announced his decision to retire at the last Board of Education meeting on June 30.

DeSibio has been the district’s counsel for 41 years, ever since he played a basketball game with then-superintendent Jack Meyer, who told DeSibio that the district was looking for a new attorney.

“I’m an ex-jock,” DeSibio said at the meeting in his typical fashion—standing up, addressing the small audience. “And little did I know that playing ball would land me a job as district attorney.”

DeSibio was well-liked by both the various Boards of Education and superintendents he worked for. DeSibio took it to be a good sign that, for every 41 years he was nominated to the position of District Counsel, he was voted in to the position unanimously.

Through his time, DeSibio also saw the role of district counsel change and evolve to meet the demands of new laws and expectations.

“At that time, school attorneys basically had to know how to run a school board meeting, that sort of thing. It wasn’t too complex,” said George Marr, former Island Park Schools superintendent. Marr was the assistant superintendent when DeSibio first became the district counsel in 1969, and in 1975, Marr became superintendent.

“But we soon found out how complex it got when the labor laws came in, and the student rights and everything else that happened,” said Marr. “There was a tremendous amount of growth over those years.”

“Without question, Mr. Desibio is an institution in this district,” said Dr. Rosmarie Bovino, the district’s current superintendent, at the board meeting. “He’s respected not only because of his longevity and his knowledge of a wide-range of legal matters, but because he’s served with undivided commitment to the taxpayers and children of Island Park.”

During DeSibio’s tenure as counsel, he’s seen all three of his children go through the Island Park schools, as well as five superintendents and countless Board of Education members.

“Here I am, in the district for 45 years,” said DeSibio. “I made a few bucks out of the deal, but more importantly I feel that I contributed. And I’m hoping that as a result of my efforts that all our kids got an excellent education.”

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