By MIKE CAPUTO
Kopilow, an outspoken critic of rival trustees, has seen many changes during his tenure, including a transition from four years of austerity to a shift toward a majority of private school parents on the school board.
The man who describes himself as the lone public school advocate left on the board relishes his role.
"What I am now down to being is the last man standing in terms of being the last representative of the public school parents of the district," Kopilow said. "There is a tremendous and extra responsibility to do the job I was elected to do."
Despite his passion for serving on the school board, Kopilow explained that he must now focus more on his family and profession.
"Being elected as a trustee was one of the most humbling experiences of my life," said Kopilow, who resides in Lawrence. "There comes a point where I also have to consider my practice and my family."
Kopilow is finishing out the final year of a three-year term to which he was elected in 2005. In that heated election, he defeated Shlomo Huttler, 4,047 to 3,868, to fill the seat that was vacated by Anthony Licatesi, who decided not to seek re-election.
During his first year as trustee, Kopilow was instrumental in the approval of the current teacher's contract, something he believes was crucial during a rocky period of failed school budgets.
"I believe that had we not gotten the teacher's contract, that we would have had a mass exodus from the district - both teachers and students,"
Kopilow said.
Despite his criticisms of the process that led to the current proposed capital project, Kopilow also said he proud to have an impact on a plan that could potentially make significant upgrades within the school district.
Kopilow is an attorney that works primarily in criminal and matrimonial law. After he received his undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University in 1969 and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1972, Kopilow served as an assistant district attorney from Nassau County for four years. In 1990, Kopilow established Hopkins and Kopilow, a private practice in Garden City, with law partner Mike Hopkins.
Outside of the courtroom and Lawrence school board meetings, Kopilow remains active within the local Republican Party. He is currently the committee leader for the North Woodmere Republican Club.
The petition filing date for school board elections is on April 20. Two seats - Kopilow and Murray Forman - are up for election on the May 20 ballot. Candidates have yet to be announced.
