By NANCY HILER
The appointment was approved unanimously by the board. "We conducted an exhaustive search," Mucci said, "There were many, many applicants, including sitting and assistant principals."
He went on to say that three district committees provided input during the candidate selection process, including one comprising fifth- and sixth-graders. Officials also conducted a site visit at P.S. 21 in Flushing, Queens, where Speidel is currently an assistant principal. Thanking Mucci and the board for her appointment, Speidel said, "I feel incredibly lucky to be here."
Mucci also announced that a contract agreement was reached with the district's paraprofessionals. "We are very happy with the result," said Linda Schuster-Dewey, a class aide in a self-contained class at Jacob Dinkelemeyer School, who heads the 76-member group. "The district was very generous, as generous as they could be." She said she was pleased that the terms included raises for both full- and part-time employees, and sick time and personal time for part-timers.
In other business, Facilities Director Chris Milano announced, "The Facilities Planning Committee has come to a consensus and will give a presentation at a special meeting on March 26." The 20-plus-member committee, consisting of parents, other community members and administrators, has met since July to evaluate and make recommendations to the board about capital improvements to the district's buildings and grounds. The March 26 meeting will be held at Martin Avenue at 8 p.m., and residents are encouraged to attend. That Monday is also the tentative date of a budget presentation.
Milano also said the district's insurance company is providing $17,000 toward the Martin Avenue School playground replacement, and that the school's principal, Mark Weiner, is putting together a committee to determine how to proceed.
In other news, board Vice President Nina Lanci announced that Mepham High School students had volunteered to hold fund-raisers to provide additional amounts toward the playground restoration.
Also in his report, Milano said that the VIEW committee discovered surface blistering in one of the classrooms Newbridge Road School, which was later tested and found positive for mold. The kindergarten children were moved out of the classroom, and the issue was being remediated over the weekend, including repair of a leak found in the bathroom above the room, which appeared to be the cause. The rest of the building was tested, and the level of mold spores was found to be safe, "lower than ambient air quality."
Also in his report, Milano announced that the district is reviewing a $4.5 million energy performance contract for energy-efficiency improvements to the buildings. "A formal recommendation to the Board of Education will be made at its April meeting," he said.
Tentative budget presentations are scheduled for 8 p.m. at Martin Avenue on Thursday, March 22 and Monday, March 26. The Facilities Planning Committee presentation will also be made at the latter meeting. The proposed budget will be presented to the Board of Education for adoption at its next regular meeting on April 12 at 8 p.m. at Martin Avenue School.
Comments about this story? NHiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
