By Laura Lane
Messinger said she had considered not running three years ago, when her previous term was up. But she was worried about Merrick, and didn't want to leave her position while the district continued to deal with the Mepham High School football scandal that had begun in 2003.
Now, she believes, things are different. "I feel that the district is now in a good place, moving in a good direction," said Messinger. "I believe it's time to move on to other things."
She remembers distinctly why she first decided to run for the school board. "At that time, I didn't feel the board was responsive to the community," said Messinger, a social worker in the Jericho Elementary School District. "They were considering abolishing a social worker, and I attended the meetings for a year and didn't feel that the board listened to the community, so I decided to run."
Messinger said she has enjoyed seeing growth during her trusteeship among children who have progressed steadily through elementary, middle and high school, gone on to college and later achieved success in their professional careers. Her own children attended Birch and Merrick Avenue Middle School, and are all graduates of Kennedy High School. She is proud of her daughter, 25, and two sons, 28 and 27, both of whom are getting married in the next year. She attributes much of their success to the Merrick school system.
Messinger said she is also proud of her work as a trustee. She spoke in particular of her efforts to help ensure that the district offered all-day kindergarten. She also helped hire two superintendents, and encouraged the growth of a school board less concerned with formality, and more responsive to the community.
Her colleagues on the board will miss her. "Andrea brought wisdom, a calmness, and always had an ability to look at both sides of the issues in a very logical way," said board President Benay Shear. "Her experiences, both as a parent who has been through our schools, and the experience she brought as someone who has worked in a school system, were valuable. Her expertise in understanding the business component and financial implications of running a school district has also been very beneficial."
It hasn't always been easy for Messinger to be a member of the Merrick board, especially while she has served on the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District board. Messinger is now in her sixth year on that board, for which members are selected by their fellow trustees in the component elementary districts.
"Sometimes I felt so helpless," Messinger. "Like with the Mepham [football scandal], you can't say everything you know because it's confidential information from an executive session, so you can't say it in public. Everything must be weighed carefully when you speak as a trustee."
Messinger said she would not miss certain "hostile board meetings" that she has sat through on the high school board. But she will miss working with fellow Central District trustees and the administration. "I've enjoyed seeing the schools from so many different angles," Messinger said. "And being a trustee has introduced me to many members of the community that I never would have met."
Trustee Susan Schwartz said that Messinger was a mentor to her when she joined the board. "Andrea is someone to be held in high esteem," said Schwartz. "She's the epitome of a true board trustee: She does the right thing."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
