Keith Gaskell retires School board race uncontested

      Marcia Hirsch, who is seeking her third term, and Vivian Lewandowski, a lifelong resident of Rockville Centre, are running unopposed for the two open school board seats.
      Gaskell earned a reputation over the years for dissecting the administration's proposed budgets, looking for ways to save money. Anyone who sat in the budget sessions soon learned to expect Gaskell's litany of questions. While the questions may have added hours and sometimes days to the process, they earned Gaskell the respect of his colleagues.
      Keith is a very, very hard worker, Hirsch said. His financial knowledge is unsurpassed.
      We will miss Keith tremendously, said Meg Koch, president of the board. She said that often when the board felt there was no way to solve a problem, Gaskell would find a new way of looking at it. Keith is a wonderful idea person.
      One of Gaskell's first official acts in 1990 was to certify Hewitt School was ready to open. His daughter Kara was entering first grade there. As his last official act, Gaskell will hand Kara her diploma.
      Congratulating students upon their completion of school has always been Gaskell's favorite job as a board member.
      His least favorite was walking out of a long board meeting knowing that none of the people there to complain had asked a single question about teaching and learning. People forget that the whole purpose is education, he said.
      Gaskell is proud of the improvements he has seen in the district during his tenure and has an article from Newsweek magazine calling the district one of the top 25 in the country framed on his wall. But he only claims part of the credit, quickly praising fellow board members for sacrificing their personal time for the children of the district.
      The other board members have become some of my best friends, he said.

No stranger to the district
      Although she will be a new comer to the board, Gaskell's replacement is no stranger to the school district. Lewandowski graduated from South Side High School and has been a member of the Covert School, high school and RVC Council of PTAs. She is also a member of the Rockville Centre Education Foundation.
      Lewandowski taught religious education at St. Agnes for seven years. She is also a past commissioner of the Rockville Centre Soccer Club.
      Hirsch said she has known Lewandowski for years and looks forward to working with her.
      Lewandowski and her husband, Harry, have four children.