Riverhead school board names director of professional development

The Riverhead Board of Education last night filled two new administrative positions: director of professional development and director of school safety. Both appointments were approved unanimously on a night that saw the board come under fire by a resident for a prior administrative contract that allowed a former assistant superintendent to be the highest paid school official in New York last year, even though he retired a year earlier.  (See separate story.)

Riverhead High School assistant principal Michael Hugelmeyer was named director of professional development for the district.

His role will be to provide resources, information and training for teachers and administrators to keep pace with an ever-changing education landscape, Schools Superintendent Nancy Carney said. The district is facing new demands as it works to meet new requirements put in place by the State Education Department, particularly as the Common Core curriculum is implemented, Carney said. It also seeks to take full advantage of all technological advancements so that it may provide differentiated instruction suited to individual students, something made possible by new technology in ways never previously available to educators, Carney said.

“This is a very challenging and exciting time for public education,” Carney said. “We want to make sure we have the resources to provide the best education possible for our students.”

Aquebogue resident Yolanda Thompson questioned both the need for such a position and the appointment of Hugelmeyer, asking whether the district considered appointing a more experienced educator to the post.

School board president Greg Meyer said it is the board’s goal in creating the position to cut down on the number of outside consultants needed to provide training and professional development services needed to comply with state requirements.

The district will now seek to fill the assistant principal position at the high school being vacated by Hugelmeyer, Carney said.

Director of school safety named

The board last night also appointed James Gresham to fill the newly created post of director of school safety for the Riverhead Central School District.

“We were looking for someone to improve security in the district and optimize safety,” “Our search began a year ago. I am very excited that we have a qualified candidate to bring us forward as we go into the future.”

James Gresham is leaving a post as director of security in the Southampton Union Free School District.

“He is exceptionally well qualified and will serve us well,” board president Greg Meyer said in an interview after the meeting.

Update: No confirmed Enterovirus D68 in Riverhead schools

There have been no documented cases of Enterovirus D68 in Riverhead schools, Carney said last night in response to questioning on the subject.

One student illness at the Riley Avenue Elementary School was reported by a parent, but it was not a confirmed case, Carney said.

Earlier this month, the district sent a letter home to parents detailing symptoms of the virus, which causes an upper respiratory infection similar to the common cold or flu; it has had serious complications in some rare instances, according to public health officials. The letter urges parents to keep sick children home from school and remind children to practice good hygiene, particularly effective hand-washing. The letter is posted on the school district’s website.

The Southampton school district yesterday announced it would close an elementary school today for a disinfecting scrub-down after one confirmed case of an enterovirus that the district said was not the D68 strain. Southampton did not identify the strain of enterovirus affecting its pupil; there are more than 100, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Hulse seeks to rescind superintendent’s contract authority

Newly elected board member Lori Hulse asked board president Greg Meyer to put a resolution on the next meeting agenda to rescind the district superintendent’s authority to approve contracts without prior board approval.

Hulse has complained about that authority since her first board meeting in July.

The policy was put into place after Hulse, who served two terms on the school board including four years as its president, left the board in 2006. It grants the superintendent authority to approve contracts under $25,000 without prior board approval.

“This is the board’s job and by allowing the superintendent to do this, the board is shirking its duties,” Hulse said.

Hulse wants the board to vote on whether to rescind the authorization.

Photo caption (top): Riverhead High School assistant principal Michael Hugelmeyer in 2012, following the publication of a book he co-authored on meeting Common Core standards. (Photo courtesy of Riverhead Central School District.)