High schools chief gets extension

The Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education voted 7-2 at its Dec. 8 meeting to extend Superintendent Dr. Marc Bernstein’s contract for another year, keeping the district leader through June 30, 2011.

Bernstein will receive a $3,000 raise for the 2010-11 school year, bumping his salary up to $298,000.

Board Trustee Dr. Frank Chiachiere said he voted for Bernstein’s extension and pay raise because the district continues to face tough economic times and he believes it needs the leadership of an experienced superintendent. “With state aid cuts looming, the district needs someone with experience in budgeting, and that’s the superintendent’s specialty,” Chiachiere said. “Few people can argue with his knowledge and comfort level with budgets, so given what I’m anticipating to happen, I had to weigh the cost of the extension against the cost of an inexperienced superintendent putting together a budget. I came down on the side of experience.”

Bernstein’s original 2004 contract covered five years, and was set to expire on Jan. 31, 2009. In 2006 it was extended to June 30, 2009. Bernstein has since been given two one-year extensions.

Board Trustee Elise Antonelli supported the latest extension. “I think he has taken the district a long way toward academic excellence,” she said of Bernstein, “and I want to see him continue that.”

Another board member, Tony Iadevaio, said that in a recession, with possible state aid cuts looming, he could not vote for the extension. He said that a salary approaching $300,000 plus a benefits package and a potential payout for unused sick and vacation time is excessive for the Central High School District. “The average salary of a superintendent in Nassau County is approximately $225,000,” Iadeveio said in a prepared statement at the meeting, “and [given] the fact that over 500,000 people lost their jobs this year, with the unemployment rate the worst in 22 years, I cannot vote for the contract extension.”

The other board member voting against the extension, Bill Stris, said only, “It’s time for a change. Let’s leave it at that.”