LI’s school leaders attend SCOPE dinner

Long Island’s public-school leaders and administrators gathered for SCOPE Education Services’ 37th Annual Dinner Meeting at Oakdale’s Bourne Mansion last Tuesday. The event offered a chance for new and returning superintendents and school board trustees to meet and mingle with other education professionals and talk about the future of the  upcoming school year.

The non-profit provides a vast array of school district services, including before-and after-school childcare programs, school enrichment programs, and professional development.

During his opening remarks, SCOPE Executive Director George Duffy introduced 37 newly installed school board members and 15 newly appointed superintendents and wished them all well in their new positions.

He also stressed the importance of their work in maintaining the quality of education on Long Island and urged them to use the many programs SCOPE and other educational organizations provide, according to a press release.

Duffy also paid tribute to the late East Quogue Union Free School District Superintendent and Principal Robert J. Long.

Duffy noted that the past several years have presented challenges that have tested veteran administrators, but that the reward is “a front seat to watching kids succeed beyond what we do in schools.” 

Those in attendance were also welcomed by Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association Executive Director Robert Vecchio and SCOPE Board of Directors President Joseph Famularo.

Famularo used a nautical theme to describe the turbulence that educators have witnessed during the past couple of years but urged the leaders to “keep your ships afloat.”

The Honorable Regent Roger Tilles, Long Island’s representative on the New York State Board of Regents, explained that the role of the Regents is to maintain excellence in schools and to guarantee equity among all students and school districts.

“We have excellence here, but we also have special needs,” Tilles said. “Until we have equity, none of us succeed.”