K-L Board Members Sworn In, Gordon Returns as President

Oath-taking and speech making dominated the shortest school board meeting to take place in recent months, as school board members officially took their seats for the 2010-11 school year.

took their oath of office, as did new student board member Troy Chryssos. District administrators were also sworn-in in a brief ceremony at the start of the meeting.

After being nominated by board member Warren Schloat, Michael Gordon was re-elected to head up the school board, and Mark Lipton was chosen as vice-president.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," Lipton said to his peers. "I'm looking forward to another excellent year."

The leadership motions passed 7-0.

Michael Jumper, assistant superintendent for business, introduced the new district treasurer, Danelle Szilagyi, who has been on the job for a few weeks.

Gordon set the tone for the board and the work that lies ahead.

"The days of school board fighting are behind us," he said. "This is our third year together and though we don't always agree on outcome…we give one another respect and we reflect the multiple communities in this district."

Gordon cited highlights of the past year—including the district's work on bullying and substance abuse—and such challenges for 2010-11 as making the district more efficient and economical.

The only contentious point in meeting came when board members accepted committee assignments; Treyz was dissatisfied with moving from the finance committee to the audit committee.

"My personal opinion is that I've been on it for three years and I feel comfortable there, which took some time. I'm being taken off it, and it's like taking a step backward," he said.

He agreed to make the move, however, after Gordon explained that "shuffling the deck" brought new perspectives to committee work, and Treyz would still be welcome at finance meetings.

The remainder of the agenda focused on passing several "consent agenda" items, including staff appointments for the upcoming year and announcement of meeting dates.

The next meeting is July 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the library at John Jay High School.