Thursday, October 1, 2026
Andrea Macari and Brian Hanley, who were re-elected to the North Shore School District’s Board of Education in May, were sworn in as trustees at the board’s reorganizational meeting on July 9. Macari and Trustee Lisa Colacioppo were re-elected and sworn in to their roles as president and vice president.
1. Carol Ann Smyth will be interim superintendent until July 19
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Carol Ann Smyth began serving as interim superintendent on July 1 and will continue in the role until July 19, when Tom Dolan will take over for the 2026-27 school year.
The 70-year old Lindenhurst native previously served in the same role in 2021-22.
Smyth has been North Shore’s assistant superintendent for instruction since July 2022. Previously, she also served as curriculum director, director of science K-12 and director of elementary STEAM. Holding the interim superintendent makes Smyth the first woman to serve as superintendent at North Shore.
James Pappas will continue in his role as assistant superintendent for business. The board has chosen School Leadership as the search firm to assist in the hunt for a new permanent superintendent.
2.Community members spoke about Propel NY Energy
Five Glen Head residents spoke during the public comment period at the July 9 meeting, expressing opposition to the Propel NY Energy project. Christine Panzeca began by thanking the district for hiring an attorney to participate in the New York State Public Service Commission Article VII process through which Propel NY must be approved before it can begin. She then thanked the district for its opposition statement to Propel NY’s joint proposal filed in April and urged trustees to make the statement more accessible to the community.
“We’re a community,” Panzeca said. “We should be working together to protect the health and safety of our community.”
Macari responded, saying a message would be sent out alerting residents to the location of the opposition statement. The email was sent out on July 10, containing the link to the statement. It also contained information and directions on how to submit public comments to the PSC pertaining to Propel ahead of the Friday deadline to do so.
3. Trustees raised concerns about NYS Regents exams
Before his departure, former superintendent Chris Zublionis issued a “no harm” policy regarding the New York State Regents exams, meaning students’ scores on those exams would not be factored into their class grades unless they would provide a boost. Macari said at the July 9 meeting she was “thankful” for that. She explained that while students’ performances on the Regents were overall strong, many students were frustrated by “how developmentally inappropriate the exam was.” Macari also expressed her own frustration over performance inequity among special education students, low-income students and English Language Learners due to the exams’ alleged lack of access.
Trustees discussed keeping the no harm policy with regards to the Regents in place permanently in order to allow teachers to present content in an “engaging, developmentally appropriate way” rather than tailoring curriculum solely to the exams.
