The East Williston school board saw a change in membership Tuesday night, but not a change in leadership.
The board unanimously voted to reappoint President Mark Kamberg and Vice President Robert Fallarino after new Trustee Alan Littman was sworn in for his first three-year term, replacing six-year Trustee Barbara Slone.
“I am excited to continue to lead this district forward as I have for six years as president, and I’m humbled that the Board of Education trusts me to lead them in this endeavor,” Kamberg said.
Trustee David Keefe was also sworn in for a third term.
He and Littman won unopposed bids for their seats in May with 390 votes and 370 votes, respectively.
Kamberg is in his ninth year on the school board and his seventh as president, he said.
In that time he has learned about the “many layers involved in educating a child,” he said in an email.
“Of course teaching and learning is primary, but in order to provide the best teachers to our children, we must work to ensure that countless needs are met before our children ever walk through the doors of our schools,” he said.
Littman, an insurance salesman and Wheatley school graduate who lives in Albertson, said he still has much to learn, but is looking forward to finding ways to address drug and alcohol abuse with a focus on younger children.
“I’m really excited now to have gotten out of the dating phase,” he said.
Littman’s ascension to the board and Kamberg’s re-election as president come amid criticism of the school district from many students, parents and alumni following the suspension of Wheatley School social studies teacher Matthew Haig. Haig is awaiting formal disciplinary hearings on charges of insubordination, neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming of a teacher.
Kamberg said Haig’s supporters’ charges of a lack of transparency within the district and on the school board will not affect the way he leads the board.
“I have the utmost confidence in the Board of Education and the leadership that I bring to it,” he said.
Littman said he was not involved in discussions of Haig’s case before his swearing-in.
While he thinks it’s good that Wheatley teachers such as Haig have profound impacts on their students’ lives, he said his supporters are judging the situation without knowing all of the details.
“They can have an opinion on whether or not he was impactful to their lives … But they can’t have an opinion on that specific occurrence, because they just don’t know,” Littman said.
The school board also voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint contractors, including law firm Guercio & Guercio, after approving contracts at its June 20 meeting.
Former school Trustee Robert Kushner said last month that it was improper for the board to approve contracts before voting on appointments because it would bind Littman to contracts in which he had no say.
Fallarino on Tuesday said the contracts had 30-day opt-out provisions, and asked Littman twice if he approved of them. Littman agreed both times.
In a rare split vote, the board voted 3-2 to reappoint Wheatley science teacher Paul Paino as the varsity girls soccer coach.
Kamberg and Littman voted against Paino’s appointment after Kamberg separated it from a package of 18 coaching appointments.
Both declined to comment on why they voted against reappointing Paino.
