Turner seeks to return favor by mentoring

Richard Tedesco

When Christine Turner first won a seat the Herricks Board of Education 23 years ago, she had doubts about taking on the role of helping to run the school district.

“When I first came on the board, I wasn’t even sure I was qualified to do something like that,” the president of the Herricks Board recalled. “I just kept evolving, and I stayed on this long.”

Turner credits her maturation on another board member, Laura Porsch who took Turner under her wing at that time.

Now, she said, she hopes to help continue the board’s evolution by working with two newly elected members, Nancy Feinstein and Brian Hassan, who are replacing veterans Richard Buckley and Peter Grisafi. They join Jim Gounaris, who has one year of service, and Dr. Sanjay Jain. 

“I’ve offered (my guidance) to the new people,” Turner said. “They do have a good feel for what’s going on, and that should help them as they take on this role.”

Turner was also in touch with what was going on in the district when she started her long-running service. 

She became active in Center Street School Parent Teachers Association, serving as its vice president and president when her three children were in school there. She moved on to the Herricks Middle School PTA, where she also served as president. That and her service on various committees prompted someone to approach her about running for an open seat on the board.

“Chris is the ultimate professional board member,” said Richard Buckley, who served as board vice president before opting not to run for re-election this year. “She has a deep understanding of what it takes to be a board president and she really cares about the children.”

Turner has worked her entire career in education as well.

She started out as an elementary and pre-school teacher after earning her masters degree in elementary education from Wagner College. She also earned 24 credits in supervision and administration from C.W. Post University and is currently early childhood administrator at Lutheran Preschool in Garden City, where she’s worked for the past 24 years.

“Obviously I have always been passionate about education. I truly believe Herricks is a wonderful community and a great school district,” she said. “I’ve lived here for 37 years and believe it’s all of the wonderful organizations and people who donate countless hours of volunteer time that make it so special.”  

The one constant Turner said she sees about serving on the school board is the series of challenges that confront those charged with directing the school district. And the last few years have been the most difficult ones she’s faced during her tenure. 

“For me the hardest and most displeasurable thing I’ve had to do is all the cutbacks and layoffs that have been done the past two years,” she said.

The Herricks board cut 35 teaching positions as part of the reductions in the current budget. That anticipated the advent of the state tax cap this year, which prompted them to cut 14.4 full-time teaching positions from the 2012-13 budget. 

“The tax cap has been very difficult to deal with.  I just feel that the state is very unfair when it changes the rules and doesn’t give school districts enough time to adjust,” Turner said. “This one-stop fix just doesn’t cut it for every district.”

Turner said she foresees more difficult challenges for the school board in developing the 2013-14 school district budget.

But, she said, “The thing is moving the system forward with the hand you’re dealt.”

As the school years winds down, Turner finds this season to be the most gratifying one.

“At this time of the year, the thing that you enjoy is see students excel and come into their own,” she said of the concerts and other events that fill the calendar. “All of these things are culmination of what they’ve accomplished throughout the year.”

In addition to serving on the school board, Turner is very involved in the Herricks Community Fund and has helped run the annual dinner dance fundraiser that supports Herricks Community Center activities for more than 10 years.

Her husband, Charles, is active in St. Joan’s Lutheran Church.

“We’re big in community stuff,” Turner said. 

She and her husband are celebrating their 40th year of marriage this year. And in their free time, in addition to going to the theater, the movies and taking trips, she said they’re also big on spending time with their two grandchildren.

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