By Nicole Falco
District 24's superintendent of schools, Dr. Edward Fale, can count on Henrietta Carbonaro's daily phone calls. Hers and his mother's. If it's raining, Carbonaro will ask Fale how the roofs are holding up. If it's snowing, she'll ask how the roads are and check to make sure everyone got to school OK.
"She has always, without a doubt, put the needs of the children of this school district ahead of her own," Fale said.
A member of the Board of Education since winning election in 1974, Carbonaro recently announced plans to retire when her term ends in June. During her 31 years on the board, she has served as president and vice president of both the District 24 and high school district boards. She has served on and been the head of numerous committees, helping to make countless decisions on behalf of students.
"It's been an interesting experience, and I've really enjoyed it," Carbonaro said. "It's rewarding to see the kids grow and blossom. There are other people who I hope are sincerely interested in providing a good education for our children.
"I'd like to think that people will remember that Henrietta Carbonaro was interested in the progress of the district and the success of the students," she said. "I never did it for any kind of personal glorification. That was furthest from my mind."
Carbonaro's pending retirement can also be considered the end of an era. Her name is known throughout the district. One of its three schools is named for her late husband, who was a teacher, principal and superintendent in the district. The Harbor Road School was renamed the Robert W. Carbonaro School in 1970.
"They've had a 60-year impact on the district," Fale said of Carbonaro and her husband. "That family has had an impact on the development of the William L. Buck School, the Carbonaro School, the growth in this district and the outstanding, positive culture of this district."
Dr. Robert W. Carbonaro began his teaching career with the district in 1946. He taught phys. ed. at the Brooklyn Avenue and the now closed Franklin Avenue schools. In 1952, he was asked to be principal of the newly opened William L. Buck School. He served as superintendent from 1958 until his death in December 1969.
"Bob would be administrating, starting new programs all day long, and then he'd come home and we'd talk education," Carbonaro said.
Henrietta Carbonaro was born in Brooklyn in the 1920s. She grew up in the same neighborhood as her husband and the couple attended the same schools, but because Robert was a little older than she, they didn't meet until they were introduced by a mutual friend. After graduating from Girls' High at 16, Carbonaro earned an associate degree in retail and merchandising from NYU, and went on to work for B. Altman and Bloomingdale's. Her husband earned a degree in teaching from NYU and a master's in school administration from Rutgers before serving as an officer in the Navy during World War II.
The couple married in 1946, and lived in a small apartment in Richmond Hill, Queens. They later moved to Forest Hills before settling in the Yorkshire section of Lynbrook, which is in District 24, in 1955. Their only child, Barbara, was born in 1956.
"My husband felt it was really important to be a part of the community," Carbonaro said of their decision to move to the district where he worked.
It was while her daughter was in school that Carbonaro got involved in the district. She became a member of the PTA of the William L. Buck School and later the parents' association at South High.
After her husband's sudden death, and at the urging of board members serving at the time, Carbonaro decided to take her interest in education a step further. "You seem to be so interested in education and so education-oriented," Carbonaro recalled being told. "'Why don't you run for election?' So I did."
In a sense, Carbonaro carried on her husband's ideals. Like him, she made a name for herself as a strong advocate for the district's foreign-language and outdoor-education programs. She has always encouraged the advancement of technology in the district, she supports mentoring programs for new teachers and she is interested in dealing openly with the community. "I said to my husband time and time again that the district may be small, but it has good potential," she recalled.
Never afraid to voice her opinion, Carbonaro was a member of the school board when it made a controversial decision to close the William F. Donahue School in 1980. She even sued the district in the late 1980s and won. At the time, she was one of the three District 24 board members appointed to serve on the high-school board. The board's policy had been that a trustee's term on the high school board would run concurrently with his or her term on the elementary board. When the board voted to change its policy in the middle of Carbonaro's term to allow another trustee, Henry Hoffman, to serve at the high school level, Carbonaro took action. Though she won and was once again offered the appointment to the high school board, she declined.
"Henrietta has been an excellent board member ... she comes to all the meetings with a good head on her shoulders and she asks a lot of good questions," said Tony Iadevaio, who has served with Carbonaro for 25 years.
Iadevaio went on to say that Carbonaro has always served with dedication and enthusiasm. Paul DePace, who has served for more than 20 years, agreed, adding that she has one of the best attendance records on the board and is "probably the most well prepared."
"We may not have always agreed, but we always respected each other's decisions," DePace said.
Carbonaro already spends much of her days reading and gardening. She reads three newspapers a day and many more magazines, including Newsweek, National Geographic and Good Housekeeping. With the extra time she'll have once her retirement is official, Carbonaro said she hopes to be able to visit friends.
"I still plan to attend the meetings," she vowed, "because I'm interested in the district and the progress we're making."
Carbonaro will be honored with a dinner at Pompeii in West Hempstead on May 24. Contact the district office at (516) 256-0153 for more information.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
