Riverhead school board elects new president and new VP

(Updated: July 9) Riverhead school district officials rang in the new school year last night at Aquebogue Elementary School — a change in venue due to ongoing construction at the high school this summer — where newly elected trustees took the oath of office and board members elected a new president and vice president.

Gregory Meyer, Kimberly Ligon and Lori Hulse, who were elected in May to three-year terms as trustees, took the oath of office prior to the start of the board of education’s organizational meeting.

Meyer, who has served as vice president of the board and is beginning his third term as a a board member, was elected president. Susan Koukounas, elected to the board in 2012, was elected vice president. All six board members present voted for both officers; Thomas Carson was absent.

Among the business items approved by the board last night, with Hulse abstaining, was a resolution to hire: labor counsel Ingerman Smith; external auditors Cullen and Danowski; claims and payroll auditors Berger, MacDonald and Rand; financial advisors Munistat Services; and bond counsel Hawkins, Delafield and Wood.

In other action, the board:
•  extended school physician services contract with Island Urgent Medical Care for one year, through June 30, 2015;
• granted the superintendent authority to approve change-orders of up to $25,000 to construction contracts, with a cap of $50,000 between regularly scheduled board meetings;
• approved library services contracts with Riverhead Free Library ($3,352,213) and Baiting Hollow Free Library ($11,900);
• abolished a business teacher position.
• appointed one full-time and one part-time special education teachers.

Riverhead resident Laurie Downs asked the board why it continued to appoint the same legal counsel and external auditors year after year. Downs, who placed fourth in a five-way race for three seats on the school board this year, said it would be better practice to change law firms and external auditors from time to time — a policy she said is recommended by the state comptroller’s office.

Superintendent Nancy Carney said the firms were chosen through an open request for proposal process.

Downs also praised the board for the amount of conversation and open discussion held at last night’s meeting, which she said wa s the most public discussion she’s seen in three years. She said she appreciated hearing what individual board members were thinking and hearing the questions they have about agenda items prior to votes being taken.

“Usually all we hear is ‘yes, yes, yes,” Downs said, her right hand raised to mimic board members voting on resolutions.

Downs has criticized the board in the past for lack of open discussion.

After asking why board members seemed to have had a discussion about construction contract change-orders outside of public session, she told the board’s new vice president, “I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard you speak.”

Her comments led to an exchange with Koukounas during which Downs criticized her and two other board members for attending an October 2012 rally against the 2 percent tax cap sponsored by the Riverhead teachers union.

“I was told, ‘I’m a parent first,’ but that’s not right — you’re elected officials,” Downs said.

Ligon jumped into the discussion at that point, telling Downs she was taking that statement out of context. “I said that to you when you asked why I was there, because my daughter was speaking at the rally. I was there to hear her speak,” Ligon said.

“I liked it better when you were telling us we’re doing a good job,” a smiling Meyer told Downs before adjourning the meeting.

Afterward, the new board president said he aims to have more open discussion at board meetings.

“We’ve improved and will continue to improve,” Meyer said.

Hulse, who served six years on the board from 2000 to 2006, said she is adjusting to its new procedures, including the use of an IBM Thinkpad to access board documents online.

She abstained from the vote on contracts, Hulse said, because she had not been provided with copies of them to review before the vote.

Her opposition to authorizing the superintendent to sign off on construction contract change-orders in between regular board meetings was because she believes there should be a board committee appointed to oversee the construction project who would consult with the superintendent on change-orders. Hulse said she thought that would be better practice for the board.