Assistant School Superintendent Christine Tona has been hired as superintendent of Mahopac Schools in upstate Putnam County.
Tona will leave the Riverhead Central School District at the end of the current school year, June 30.
Tona, who was hired by Riverhead as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in 2016, was tapped as interim superintendent in July 2020, after former superintendent Aurelia Henriquez abruptly resigned the post. She received no additional compensation.
The new interim stepped into the job at a most challenging time: Schools had been shut down statewide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, educators and students were struggling to adapt to remote learning, her predecessor’s sudden departure amidst a racially charged controversy left many unanswered questions, district voters had two weeks earlier rejected the proposed 2020-2021 budget in an unprecedented mail-in vote.
In her first month as interim superintendent, Tona faced a revote on the failed budget, which was rejected by voters a second time, and had to develop and file a school reopening plan by July 31, under a directive from the governor — though reopening guidelines from the State Department of Health and State Education Department had not yet been finalized.
Tona implemented controversial COVID-19 safety protocols, including plastic shields and face masks, required by the district’s reopening plan and/or state regulators.
She also managed the district under a contingency budget for the first time in almost 15 years. Tona and former Deputy Superintendent for Finance and Operations Sam Schneider then developed and proposed a budget with a zero-percent tax levy increase for 2021-2022, covering a 10% spending increase with increased school aid. The budget was approved 72% to 28% last May.
Riverhead Central Faculty Association President Gregory Wallace commended Tona’s performance, noting she took “the helm of the only school district on Long Island that faced a contingency budget in the midst of COVID-19.”
“The challenges were many, yet Ms. Tona’s resolve to create an equitable educational environment for all students despite the circumstances was an inspiration to us all,” Wallace said this weekend.
The president of the district’s administrators association also had praise for Tona. “During her time in Riverhead she has lead with integrity and transparency,” said Riverhead Administrators Association President Deb Rodgers. “Her focus has always been on supporting student growth and achievement. The Blue Waves family will miss her leadership and dedication,” Rodgers said.
But Tona navigated the rocky waters of the 2020-2021 school year without the full support of the board of education for her appointment as interim. Board President Laurie Downs and trustees Therese Zuhoski and Brian Connelly on June 29, 2020 voted against her appointment as interim, which carried by a 4-3 vote. On June 16, 2020, the board split 4-3, with Downs, Zuhoski and Connelly opposed, to grant Tona tenure as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
Tona, who applied for the superintendent’s job, was passed over by the board last year when it hired current Superintendent Augustine Tornatore, a decision announced last April.
“I wish her the best in this new phase of her career,” Tornatore said in an email this morning. “I know this is something that she has wanted.”
Longtime former board member and former board president Greg Meyer, who was on the board when Tona was hired and supported her tenure and appointment as assistant superintendent, said Tona has been “a very valuable asset to Riverhead school district. “There’s so much she did that went under the radar that nobody realized,” Meyer said.
“She’s something special. Not only is she a real intelligent woman but she is an intelligent woman with a great heart and truly cares about what she’s doing, cares about her staff, cares about her kids, cares about the community and just wants to be a big part of making things better for each and every person,” Meyer said. “It’s unfortunate for Riverhead that we’re losing that.”
Tona will start her new job in Mahopac July 1.
Mahopac Board of Education President Michael Mongon said in a post on the Mahopac Central School District website that the district is “thrilled to welcome her to Mahopac,” citing her performance as interim in Riverhead during the COVID crisis last year.
“She led the district through the crisis, advanced programming and engaged the community throughout,” Mongon said.
Riverhead will not be hiring a new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
“We are changing the position to executive director of secondary education, grants and student outcomes,” Tornatore said.
Tornatore has undertaken some reorganization of the district’s senior administrative staff.
The school board in October eliminated the position of deputy superintendent for finance and operations. Sam Schneider, who held that post, became an assistant superintendent, with tenure, though he was administratively reassigned during the same board meeting pending an investigation into unspecified allegations. He resigned from the district last month for a position in East Hampton. The board named Faith Caglianone acting assistant superintendent of finance and operations while Schneider was reassigned. After his resignation her title was changed to interim assistant superintendent of finance and operations.
The school board also created a new assistant superintendent position last month and filled it with Lori Koerner, who was hired in 2019 as executive director of curriculum, instruction and professional personnel. Koerner was promoted to the new post of assistant superintendent of human resources and elementary education.
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