By JOSEPH KEALLARD
Cairns was hired as the principal of Jericho High School last month, and he gave his noticed to the Oceanside School District on Friday, June 28.
"It was a wonderful experience being principal here and it's a school that's supported by a wonderful community, a staff dedicated to education and a very supportive administration," Cairns told the Herald. "So, it was a very difficult decision for me to finally make in the end. But after meeting with my family and going over the pros and cons, I decided to take the job at Jericho."
Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown said that a typical procedure in hiring a new principal, at least in Oceanside, requires that the district call for references from districts where its candidates have worked.
"Nobody had ever called me from Jericho for a reference, and Mr. Cairnes had never indicated that he applied," Brown said.
Henry Grishman, superintendent of Jericho School District, declined to comment on the process by which Cairnes was hired.
"[The Jericho School district] approached me probably about three weeks ago and asked if I would just discuss with them[becoming their high school principal]," Cairns told the Herald last Thursday.
He indicated that he visited Brown's office on June 28 and waited for him for an hour but missed him, and that when Brown called him later that day Cairns informed him of his new position at Jericho. Cairns subsequently wrote a letter to the Brown indicating that he would remain OHS principal for another 30 days.
"I never applied anywhere else, and while another district had inquired about me, I wouldn't have gone anywhere else," Cairns said. "But Jericho is a top-flight district and has a good reputation like Oceanside."
Among the "pros" that Cairns said factored into his decision was travel time. "I was happy here in Oceanside, but one advantage of Jericho is that it's ten minutes from my house in Syosset. In the afternoons it would take me 50 minutes to get home from Oceanside, not because of distance but because of traffic."
With Cairns' departure from OHS, Ciulla, an assistant principal at the school for the past year, was publicly named "acting" principal at the school board meeting on Monday, July 8. To search, advertise and hold community meetings to find and hire a new principal is a process that could potentially take until November, Brown said.
"We don't have that time. We feel that she's the person, but because we are doing it so quickly we thought that we would call it 'acting' just to give her a chance to be principal for a year, and then hopefully, at some point, she will become permanent, and I'm hoping she stays for a long time," Brown explained.
Ciulla started her educational career as a secondary-level Spanish teacher in Eatontown, New Jersey in 1979. She taught Spanish in Westbury School District from 1985 to 1995, after which she served as assistant principal at its high school until 2001. As part of her duties as associate principal at OHS, she was in charge of the graduation for the Class of 2002.
"With a combined seven years as an assistant principal, I think I have the experience and I know a lot about the Oceanside community and the culture to become principal here," Ciulla said. "I have a lot of energy and a lot of spark, and I'd like to see a lot of things happen in the district. And I'd like to see the kids do very, very well."
Among Ciulla's goals as principal are to get all students to earn regents diplomas for graduation, more students to earn advanced regents diplomas, and increase the number of students sitting for advanced placement exams.
"She's a diamond in the ruff," Brown said. "She's been the number two banana for seven years, and I think she's ready to take on the role of number one."
"I couldn't think of a better person to fill this position," said Cairns said about his successor. "Dorrie has the ability to work with the wide constituency of people -- the teachers, students, parents and community in general. She's motivated and has the energy to do what needs to be done."
Cuilla will officially begin her position as acting principal on August 1.
