By Nick Buglione
Roseann Nolan resigned from the East Meadow Board of Education at last Thursday's meeting.
Nolan, a 32-year resident of East Meadow who was serving her second non-consecutive term as a board trustee, recently retired from Nassau BOCES, where she worked as a paraprofessional, and is moving to Florida with her husband, John, on Feb. 26.
Nolan's resignation leaves the board, traditionally a seven-member body, with only five members.
She is the second school board member to resign in recent months. Citing family health issues, David Kaplan stepped down last June, and no one was appointed to take his place, despite indications from the board that someone would be.
Both vacant seats will be up for grabs in the May election, along with that of incumbent board member Deborah Coates. The winner of Kaplan's former seat will serve only two years, instead of the usual three.
"I'll miss the community," said Nolan, 58, who raised four children in East Meadow and has three grandchildren. "It's tough. It was a hard decision." She said she initially planned on running for re-election, but a death in the family made her rethink the idea. "I lost my son-in-law at age 41 to leukemia in September," Nolan said. "It kind of gives you a different perspective."
She and her husband intended to move to Florida in about four years, but decided not to wait. "There are no guarantees in life," Nolan said. "We just said, 'Why wait?'"
Elected to her current term in 2002, Nolan previously served as a trustee from 1998 to 2001. She lost her bid for re-election to Barry Rubinstein, but ran for the retiring Clement Grieco's seat the next year and won.
Over the past three years, Nolan said, she didn't always see eye to eye with her fellow board members. "We agreed to disagree," she said. "There were some heated discussions, but we put it behind us. They're a good group."
Nolan listed the school district's steady improvement on standardized tests among its most significant accomplishments during her term. "That's a big hurdle," she said. "We're definitely on the right track."
Nolan also said she has worked hard to ensure that the school district spends every dollar wisely. "Roseann has fought hard for fiscal restraint, while never losing sight of the fact that a well-spent dollar is a good investment," said Charles Goldberg, school board president. "She clearly demonstrated on a continual basis that our children's needs always must be given top priority while balancing her responsibility to our residents, who shoulder the financial burden."
Prior to joining the board, Nolan was active in East Meadow PTA and athletics. Colleagues were sad to learn of her resignation. "I appreciate all of [her] service given so willingly to the East Meadow community, whether it was in PTA, on the athletic fields or right here in the board room, " said Helen Meittinis, president of the Community Association of Stewart Avenue, a local civic group. "East Meadow's loss is Florida's gain, and I wish her great luck and heartfelt thanks."
Gail Widro, a parent who has worked with Nolan, echoed Meittinis. "I'm so sorry to hear [she's resigning]," Widro said. "If I ever had a question, I could always get a straightforward, no-nonsense answer from Roseann."
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
