Interim assistant supt. for instruction hired in RCSD, as administrative restructuring continues

The Riverhead Board of Education authorized a contract Monday with a new interim assistant superintendent to oversee its instructional programs for the upcoming school year.

Alan Baum, who is currently the assistant to the assistant superintendent for human resources in the Three Village Central School District, will take on the role of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction through the end of the 2024-25 school year. Baum will be paid $1,200 per day and not receive any benefits from the district. 

The role of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction is a new one in the district’s current administrative structure, but was a mainstay in its top administration until quite recently. The position was eliminated at the end of the 2021-22 school year and its responsibilities divided between two top administrators during restructuring done under former Superintendent Augustine Tornatore, who split with the school district abruptly in October without explanation. 

The two assistant superintendents currently overseeing curriculum and instruction, Lori Koerner and William Galati, are retiring at the end of this month. Their positions are being eliminated and their responsibilities split between three roles, Interim Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich said in an interview. The assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction will oversee all K-12 instruction. There will also be two director positions created by the district: one that will focus on elementary education and another on student services and registration, Pedisich said.

With Tornatore gone, Pedisich and the school board are restructuring the administration again. Pedisich has said the changes will make the district more “cost effective and efficient.”

While the changes to administration have continued, the school board has not hired any permanent employees to fill the new jobs. Pedisich and Interim Assistant Superintendent for Business Marianne Cartisano, who took over after the district’s former business official resigned, are staying with the district for another year, along with Interim Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Vincent Mulieri. Their employment agreements were approved by the board last night along with Baum’s; all three of the administrators, who are retirees, are being paid $1,200 per day. 

The school board also approved employment agreements last night for three other nonaligned district officials: District Clerk Dawn Bozuhoski, Interim Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent of Business Faith Caglianone and Interim Facilities Director John Fleming.

The school board also accepted the resignation of assistant principals Laura Arcuri and Callan Lonergan. Arcuri, who is currently an assistant principal at Roanoke Avenue Elementary School, was appointed into the probationary position of principal of Pulaski Street Intermediate School, filling the position being vacated by Patrick Burke. Arcuri will be paid an annual salary of $172,845.