Island Park Board of Ed swears in new trustee

Jack Vobis was officially sworn in as a trustee at the July 13 Island Park Board of Education meeting.

Chris Mullooly/Herald

The Island Park Board of Education swore in a new trustee and elected a new president and vice president at its meeting on July 13.

Jack Vobis, who won the election by seven votes against former Board of Education President Richie Hayes, was officially sworn in. Tara Byrne was elected president, and Diana Caracciolo was elected vice president, replacing Hayes and Nina Hargrove, respectively.

Superintendent Rosmarie Bovino introduced two teachers, Dominick Barone and Kristiana Sefchek, at the meeting. Barone is a physical education teacher and Sefchek is a science teacher with focuses on biology and chemistry.

State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky secured $75,000 in aid for the Island Park School District, which will be used to renovate the playground at Francis X. Hegarty Elementary school. The aid comes from the miscalculation in this year’s budget, where an anomaly in the way funding was calculated saw the district lose just over $72,000 in state aid, 3 percent less than last year.

Because the district did not spend as much last year on services from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, using the state formula, the projected amount for 2015-16 is less than the amount spent in 2014-15, hence less reimbursement. The school district received $2.3 million in the original New York state budget.