By MIKE RUSSO
, leaving the board to unanimously approve the appointment of current Superintendent of Schools Leon Campo as interim superintendent for the 2008-09 school year.
Campo was appointed interim superintendent at a June 10 meeting of the Board of Education at the Salisbury Center in Westbury, while a dozen residents gathered outside to protest the meeting, the purpose of which, the protesters believed, was to hire a superintendent before two newly elected board members, Al Semonella and Diana DeVito, took office. Protesters claim that the school board conducted a confidential search for a superintendent with the help of the search firm, School Leadership LLC, and that the final two candidates were unqualified for East Meadow.
"We want to know that we are part of the team," said Robert Zafonte, president of the East Meadow Civic Association, who took part in the rally.
Semonella, who also participated in the rally, said he was against the current board's hiring of a new superintendent because he felt that the board, which will include Semonella and DeVito as of July 1, should have been involved in the selection process. "What's the rush?" Semonella said before the meeting. "We don't see why they can't wait. We feel like we need to be part of the process."
According to district officials, the community group sent fliers to East Meadow board trustees, their families, the superintendent candidate who withdrew and another candidate, who had already decided to withdraw. The fliers contained executive session material that could have been divulged only by a sitting member of the board. In addition to exposing confidential information, the fliers sought to discredit the superintendent search firm, the school board and the two candidates themselves.
In anonymous letters sent to the Herald, the group claimed that the finalists for superintendent were unqualified and that the search firm consisted of three retired superintendents - fitting a pattern, the group said, of helping one another get hired in different districts.
According to Coates, School Leadership LLC "presented the most qualified candidates for the superintendency based on actual experience in public education, current employment in a responsible educational position, qualities of character and demonstrated leadership in the field of education." Referring to the protesters' fliers, Coates said, "Under these abusive circumstances, these qualified candidates are reluctant to take the next logical step in the process which ultimately leads to an appointment." Coates added that the firm had met with the community and the PTA, including holding public meetings at the Salisbury Center.
"It didn't have to be this way," she said.
Board Vice President Walter Skinner had a similar opinion. "I think it's a damn shame," he said. "We had two great candidates, one of whom I was ready to pick. This puts the rest of us in a hard spot." Skinner added that Campo is the best option right now, as the board continues its search for a new superintendent.
Campo, who has 34 years of experience in East Meadow schools, had filed for retirement before the board recommended that he stay on, so he will receive a pension but will take a significant salary cut and receive no benefits from the school district. Campo is 65, so he does not have to apply for a waiver from the State Education Department to serve as interim superintendent. He said that he accepted the position with the board's promise that it would continue to search for a new superintendent.
"I had very high hopes that our search, which was done for the last year, would be successful," said Campo, who originally planned to retire at the end of the 2006-07 school year, but stayed on to help the district conduct its search. "I would not serve if a majority of this board did not support my interim superintendency."
The two candidates who withdrew were David Feller, superintendent of schools in North Merrick, and Martin Handler, district superintendent of Sullivan County BOCES. Though Feller withdrew for personal reasons not related to the community group's letters, he also received hate mail from the group. Handler made it clear that his withdrawal was directly related to the group's efforts.
Handler said he was optimistic about the position until he and others in his district started receiving mail that accused him of being unqualified and a drunk. He also said there was information in the letters that could have been revealed only by a member of the East Meadow school board.
"I went into this process as somebody very interested, and apparently there is something going on in the community and the school board that is very destructive," said Handler. "It is very unfortunate, but it pretty much poisoned the atmosphere. I think that the students and community in East Meadow deserve better than what happened in this search." Nonetheless, Handler praised Campo for his abilities and wished him well.
Feller said that he had changed his mind about the position before he saw any of the group's letters. He explained that when he applied for the position, he did some soul-searching and decided to remain in North Merrick.
"I think [East Meadow] has a big challenge ahead of them," said Feller. "I wish them the best."
"I was happy that Mr. Handler and Mr. Feller were not appointed," said DeVito, one of the two new board members. "As I understand it, Mr. Feller runs a small district of four elementary schools and Mr. Handler has a small district of BOCES students. Neither candidate, in my opinion, was qualified to run a district the size of East Meadow, as both lacked the experience and demonstrated ability in leadership of a large K-through-12 academic district."
DeVito added that she is looking forward to reviewing submitted resumes with the new board next month to see if there are qualified candidates that were overlooked. She also said that the contract offered to Campo was necessary, because someone was needed to run the district until another superintendent is appointed.
Campo will begin his new term on July 1. He insists that he remains optimistic about the search for a new superintendent, and that whether the process takes three months or a year, he will be ready to step down.
"My first love is East Meadow schools," he said.
Comments about this story? MRusso@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
