As a little girl play-acting being a teacher, Great Neck School Board of Education President Barbara Berkowitz knew she wanted to eventually go into education.
“It’s such a wonderful profession and I had some outstanding teachers of my own who were mentors, and think when you’ve had an outstanding teacher you never forget him or her,” said Berkowitz, who will be running for re-election in the May 19 Board of Education elections.
If elected, Berkowitz would serve her eighth full term on the board. The board will vote for president and vice president in July. Berkowitz, who has been board president since 2006, said she would stay president if asked.
She served as board vice president from 2000 to 2003, and from 1993 to 2006, on the board’s Policy Committee, which writes and reviews policy recommendations.
Berkowitz was appointed to the board in 1992 after the death of former board Trustee Connie McNicol left a vacant seat. She was then won election in 1993.
Although she did not seek out the position initially, Berkowitz said, the board knew her through her work as E.M. Baker School Parent Teacher Association president and United Parent-Teacher Council Budget Committee co-chairperson when they asked her to take McNicol’s spot. Berkowitz said she decided to run for election because she cared for the students.
“My contributions are vast,” Berkowitz said. “I care about all the children in this district and seeing them succeed.”
Berkowitz founded the Family Math and Outreach Programs at E.M. Baker School and Good Ideas For Teens, a committee that explored teen activities in Great Neck, she said.
Though the Great Neck public schools are often ranked as among the best in the country, Berkowitz said, she doesn’t feel pressure as board president to maintain its high standards, but is aware that she needs to constantly be looking to how the board can make the schools better.
Berkowitz, who has put a son and a step-daughter through the Great Neck public school system, said she knows how important the schools are to the development of the district’s children as well as the area’s property values.
“You can’t rest on your laurels,” Berkowitz said. “Education has to be a fluid field and if you don’t constantly look to improve then you fall behind, and that’s something we don’t want to happen.”
Even though as board president Berkowitz isn’t paid, she said considers it her occupation.
“I put in more hours than most people do at a full-time job,” Berkowitz said.
Berkowitz said one of the most important issues the board faces is having continuity on the board when the school district’s senior administration changes, such as when new superintendents need to be named.
“I’ve been actively involved with the selection of the superintendents,” Berkowitz said. “I’ve basically led the charge and worked with them to help mentor them when they first come.”
Teresa Prendergast, the Garden City Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction who was named last week the next Great Neck School District Superintendent, will be the third superintendent Berkowitz has overseen.
Berkowitz also said she was concerned about the effects the Common Core curriculum on students in the future.
“The pressures placed on children from standardized testing is inhuman,” she said “While I certainly support the Common Core curriculum, I do worry about the impact of the testing on our children.”
Berkowitz will be joined on the ballot by Trustee Donald Ashkenase, who said he was also running for re-election. Voters will also consider the 2015-15 school budget at the same time.
Voting will take place May 19 in the multipurpose room of E.M. Baker School, at 69 Baker Hill Road, and the west gym of Great Neck South High School, at 341 Lakeville Road.
The budget for the 2014-2015 school year was for $214,067,850. During the 2014-2015 school year, there were 6,399 registered students among the 10 schools in the district.
The schools in the district include Great Neck North High School, Great Neck South High School, the Village School, Great Neck North Middle School, Great Neck South Middle School, the Elizabeth Mellick Baker School, the John F. Kennedy School, Lakeville School, Saddle Rock School and Parkville School.
