By Laura Lane
The format of the meeting was atypical, with Dr. Ranier Melucci, the district superintendent, first speaking at a lectern. "Your presence indicates your interest in our plans to restructure," Melucci said, acknowledging that many in attendance were district teachers. "In an elementary district, [administrators'] responsibilities are greater. They must be willing to work long hours and be available for evening activities, and have a working knowledge of technology. I'm recommending Lisa Ruiz, [the assistant superintendent for pupil personnel], to be the district's new assistant superintendent for instruction."
The district's proposed plan is to have two assistant superintendents and one administrator instead of three assistant superintendents. The district recently hired Dr. Christine Grucci to replace Anthony Cedrone, the assistant superintendent for business and technology, who will begin her position on July 1. The board's acceptance of the resignation of Theresa Ganley, the assistant to the superintendent for curriculum and instruction, was announced recently at a prior board meeting.
Former Levy-Lakeside PTA co-president Michelle Chernet asked Dr. Melucci why Cedrone's position wasn't advertised, and she wondered about Grucci's qualifications.
"I put out feelers for business positions and found out that there are eight or nine business positions still available in Nassau County," Melucci explained. "I interviewed Dr. Grucci for three hours, and on April 10 the board accepted my recommendation to hire her. She has seven years of experience and is taking a cut in salary to come here."
Several parents of special-needs students said they were concerned that their children might be affected adversely if Ruiz were moved into the new position of assistant to the superintendent for curriculum, and an administrator were hired in place of the assistant to the superintendent for pupil personnel services.
"Will the program continue with a new person coming in?" a resident named Michelle asked. "No one seems to be in charge. When I asked a [Committee on Pre-School Education] person, she said she didn't know much about CPSE, but is learning. That's not acceptable. Mrs. Ruiz knew a lot about it."
Melucci assured the parent that Ruiz would continue to be responsible for special education, but if she took on the new position, she would no longer be required to attend the CPSE and Committee on Special Education meetings. The superintendent believes that Ruiz's qualifications are so great that freeing her up from attending the meetings, which he said require her to be behind closed doors 70 percent of her day, would benefit the district.
"The new administrator will conduct the meetings," Melucci said. "But no changes will be made for children without Lisa's or my approval. The administrator will be considered a lower-level administrator."
Sheri Iskenderian, a Merrick parent, said she believes change is not a bad thing, but she insisted that parents receive a clearer understanding of exactly what would change. "It concerns me that the person attending the CSE meetings will be perfunctory," Iskenderian said. "I need to know that the person in that meeting has the same status as the person sitting across from them."
Several parents wished to know why Ganley moved. They complained that the district was willing to discuss Cedrone's reasons, but would not reveal why Ganley left the district after only one year.
"We can't speak about why Ms. Ganley resigned," board President Benay Shear said. "You need to ask her. She gave her letter of resignation to the board."
Cedrone had given his letter of resignation to Melucci, who said that he was leaving to go to a kindergarten-through-12th grade district.
One parent, Theresa, said, "You can't have one person do two people's positions. People with children with special needs are beside themselves."
Chernet wanted to know what the district's motivation was to combine the two positions. Melucci responded, "The district has an exceptional administrator who has more expertise than in just a specific area."
Merrick Faculty Association President Ruth Rosenberg asked how long the reorganization had been on the minds of district officials. "If it was last year, why did we hire two people for these positions?" she asked.
Melucci said there weren't any plans to reorganize last year. They were decided on after Ganley submitted her resignation.
When Shear opened the issue up to trustees, there were many questions.
"Do we have data on this type of model in the central office or from a district better than us, and do districts with this model score higher than us?" Trustee Susan Schwartz asked. "I'm alarmed that I hear that our scores are down. Maybe Dr. Melucci's idea would bring the scores up."
Melucci said he didn't have the data available, but could get it to the Board of Education. "Bellmore has a similar situation, although they do have a lower special-education population," Melucci said. "They have a psychologist that does the CSE meetings."
Trustee Andrea Messsinger wanted to know if Melucci's suggestions would cost the district additional money. "No, it will cost the district the same or less," Melucci said. "But we aren't doing this to save money."
Messinger also asked what Ruiz's qualifications were to take on the new position. Ruiz said prior to coming to Merrick she was a special-education teacher, an inclusion teacher, supervised general education, was a reading specialist and worked closely with building principals on curriculum.
Dr. Nancy Kaplan, the board vice president, said that although she had faith in Ruiz, she was concerned that with Ruiz overseeing two positions, the progress that has been made so far in special education might suffer.
"How do we not upset the progress that's been made in special education while at the same time making advances in general education?" Kaplan wondered. "What if we can't find someone that will free you up to give you enough time. I wouldn't be comfortable. I don't want to see mediocrity in two areas."
Melucci agreed to put an advertisement in the newspaper and give the board an idea whether the district would be able to find the appropriate person for the administrator position as early as mid-July. He said that the title would be coordinator for special education, and he'd ask for a certain level of experience.
"Change is not easy," said Trustee Andrea Messinger. "But people are asking for change; they want our district to improve."
Shear wondered how the district would know if the restructuring worked were it to move forward. Melucci suggested he report to the board three to four times a year.
Messinger instead recommended that an advisory committee of teachers, parents and community members be formed to monitor progress.
When the floor was opened up once again to visitors, Rosenberg spoke again. "Our union found out about the restructuring at a board meeting," she said. "I suggest moving forward that the board bring parents and teachers in earlier in the process. And in order to satisfy the public, bring in more voices to the process."
The next reorganization/regular board meeting will be on July 3 at 8 p.m.
Comments about this story? llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
