As construction begins on some of the projects in the Manhasset School District’s $22.6 million capital plan, Board of Education Trustee Carlo Prinzo said he feels responsible for seeing the project through.
“It’s an arduous process to go through,” said Prinzo, the board’s vice president, who along with Trustee Ann Marie Curd is facing uncontested re-election on May 19. “You kind of feel an obligation to hang in with it and see it through and make sure we land where we told people we were going to land.”
Prinzo, who has served three terms as trustee, said tight maintenance of the district’s finances would be among his top priorities if he is elected for another term, as well as ensuring a smooth transition as the district adapts to practices set forth by the state Department of Education.
He is a 21-year Manhasset resident who has had two children in the Manhasset School District, one who graduated in 2013 and another currently enrolled.
“There’s a legacy to a school district like Manhasset, one I’ve tried to protect over the years,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing where, if you’re on the board, you want to protect it.”
Prinzo has been the board’s vice president for the last two years, having also served for two years as its president before swapping roles with Regina Rule prior to the 2013-14 school year.
Prior to joining the Board of Education, he served on the district’s Citizens Advisory Committee for Finance for four years, chairing the committee for two of those years.
“Those committees give you a sense of working with people,” said Prinzo, whose professional background is in the retail industry. “It teaches you that working with a community group is very different than working in your office, so you’ve got to learn all of that and know that everyone has something to say and to respect and value every opinion.”
In his time on the board, Prinzo said he and the other trustees have regularly met with parents and community groups to inspire more involvement on the school district’s committees, noting some organizations do not receive the same level of participation as others.
He said the board has targeted the parents of Manhasset’s elementary school students to become involved because they are new to the district and may not be aware of the different ways of getting involved in the community.
“We feel there are people who just don’t know, and we’ve made a concerted effort as a board to constantly speak with elementary parents because they’re just coming up the pike, they’re going to be with us for awhile,” Prinzo said. “We want to keep people aware of what’s going on.”
