Thursday, October 1, 2026
It was a night of tributes and farewells as school board trustees and administrators recognized 17 longtime employees — seven teachers, four office staff members, six Civil Service employees and District Clerk Cynthia Geones, who will be all retiring.
The June 4 Board of Education meeting started with a small surprise, as “a vocal octet with a person missing,” the brainchild of South Side High School music students Noah Dion and Christina Ortiz, sang “Omnia Sol” in recognition of the retirees. Dion and Ortiz were joined by Alyssa Adler, Jackie Cano, Paul Martino, Joey Nizich and Austin Wild for the performance.
School board President Liz Dion spoke first, saying that Rockville Centre is a phenomenal district because of the people — all the people — who are part of it. “While we celebrate [our retirees],” she said, “it’s with sadness.”
Karen Baer, Jill Calderone, Eugene Kaplan, Ernest Kuehl Jr., Rosalie Marshall, Ann O’Brien and Karen Pratt are among the teachers retiring.
Office staffers leaving include June Clar, Diane Duraller, Deborah Harty and Dory Mayr. And Civil Service employees who submitted their papers include Charles Dodd, Lottie Green, Charlie Grant, Homer Norton, William Rhodes and Johnnie Smith.
While each retiring staff member received thanks and praise, along with a certificate, flowers — and hugs — from school board President Liz Dion and school Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, none of the tributes was more emotional than Geones’s. A number of former school board trustees and administrators attended the meeting, and stood with Geones as she read a lengthy letter of thanks that was punctuated with occasional tears and humor.
“I feel so blessed and privileged having worked in the Rockville Centre school district for 30 years and meeting so many amazing, amazing people,” said Geones, who has been on leave this year while she battled cancer. “I’m just so proud to have worked in such a great district under Dr. Johnson’s leadership. Every board that I’ve worked for has been kind and courteous to me and the trustees are such wonderful people.”
Geones also had high praise for her co-workers and members of the community — and said she’s developed close, lifelong friendships with many of them. She also thanked her family, saying that their support enabled her to work the long hours her job required.
Geones started in Rockville Centre in 1982 in a part-time clerk-typist position — typing curriculum. In 1983, she job-shared a position in the special education department until 1984 when she was appointed to a full-time position working for the Pupil Personnel Services and Special Education Department. In 1989 Geones was promoted to her current position as staff assistant to the superintendent, secretary to the Board of Education and District Clerk.
In his remarks, Johnson said that during her tenure, Geones transformed Rockville Centre’s school election process to one of the most efficient operations in Nassau County. He also said she helped bring the district into the computer age. But because of “her human qualities,” he said, “we are all different and better.”
“I’m eternally grateful for my life here in Rockville Centre,” Geones said.
