School Board Assures Public On Attorneys
By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The Garden City Board of Education put aside budgetary discussions this week to concentrate on other school district business during their regular meeting on February 25th. Budget work sessions will resume on Monday at 8:15 p.m. in the high school library.

School Board President Kenneth Monaghan addressed recent Newsday articles that uncovered several attorneys whose arrangements with school districts allowed them to receive substantial public benefits while working as private legal counsel. He said the Garden City School District has worked with the Farmingdale law firm of Guercio & Guercio during his nine-year tenure on the Board.

They are one of the top four Long Island firms dealing with educational law. "It is the only one of the four firms listed that has not had its reputation tarnished recently by these events," Monaghan noted.

Fino Celano, assistant superintendent for personnel, reported that four candidates for the position of high school principal are now being considered. The committee originally interviewed 12 people. The four remaining candidates have a "rich background in education" and include three current principals and one assistant principal. The next round of interviews with the superintendent's cabinet are scheduled for this week.

Albert Chase, assistant superintendent for business and finance, said students "do not have anything to worry about" after the largest meat recall in U.S. history was announced earlier this month by the USDA. The recall started when Hallmark/Westland, of Chino, Calif., issued a recall of 143 million pounds of beef products after a video showed plant workers attempting to make sick or injured cows stand up with electrical-shock devices, fork lifts and high-pressure water hoses. An inability to walk is a possible symptom of mad-cow disease.

Chase said the district receives mainly poultry and canned goods for the very limited number of students who utilize the government-subsidized school lunch program. Whitsons School Nutrition, the dining service management company that handles the school's food services contract, said they do not use any beef that originated from the plant.

Dr. Teresa Prendergast, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, was happy to report that all 256 students who took the Math A Regents exam passed. The average grade was 89.9. The mastery rate, which includes those who scored in the 85th percentile or above, was 77 percent.