Barbara Berkowitz, president and 27-year member of the Great Neck Board of Education, was selected by the New York State School Boards Association to serve as a panelist at a recent training event for school board officers and aspiring board officers. The audience also included superintendents, administrators, and public education leaders from the region.
The panel at the 2018 Board Officers Academy on Sept. 21 was comprised of three experienced school board presidents who were selected by NYSSBA to share their knowledge about leading a cohesive Board of Education. Panelists fielded questions from audience members about challenges faced by school board officers.
The 2018–19 school year is Berkowitz’s thirteenth year as president of the Great Neck Board of Education, which makes her the longest consecutively serving president in the history of the district.
Ms. Berkowitz was first appointed to the Great Neck Board of Education in 1992 to fill a vacancy after the death of a board trustee; she was elected to the board the following year. She has served as president of the board since 2006, and previously served as vice president from 2000–03. Berkowitz is a past chair of the Board of Education Policy Committee and the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, and she currently serves as an ex officio member of all Board of Education Advisory Committees.
The Board Officers Academy is part of NYSSBA’s School Board U, a state-wide training program for school board members to develop skills in the areas of governance, fiscal accountability, and leadership. NYSSBA serves nearly 660 local school boards and boards of cooperative educational services, or BOCES, which represent almost 5,000 members.
