While most families are enjoying their summer off, members of Staten Island's District 31 Community Education Council (CEC) have been meeting to get things in shape for September in the borough's public schools. While most families are enjoying their summer off, members of Staten Island's District 31 Community Education Council (CEC) have been meeting to get things in shape for September in the borough's public schools. While most families are enjoying their summer off, members of Staten Island's District 31 Community Education Council (CEC) have been meeting to get things in shape for September in the borough's public schools. While most families are enjoying their summer off, members of Staten Island's District 31 Community Education Council (CEC) have been meeting to get things in shape for September in the borough's public schools.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While most families are enjoying their summer off, members of Staten Island's District 31 Community Education Council (CEC) have been meeting to get things in shape for September in the borough's public schools.
CEC members work closely with the district superintendent; approve school zoning lines; hold hearings on the Department of Education's (DOE) capital plan for new school seats and construction, and provide input on instructional and policy issues. Members serve as a liaison with the DOE, to communicate the needs of their district.
The CEC is comprised of nine members, who must be parents of students currently enrolled in Kindergarten through eighth grade in one of Staten Island's public elementary or intermediate schools. Each of the city's 32 school districts has its own CEC; Staten Island's District 31 CEC is the only one that encompasses an entire borough.
The councils were created in 2002, under legislation approving mayoral control of the school system. They replaced the district school boards. Parents serve two-year terms on the CEC, with elections every two years. Current CEC members are eligible to seek re-election, as long as they have at least one child still enrolled in elementary or intermediate school.
Here's a thumbnail guide to who's who on the Staten Island CEC:
- Frank Squiccirini -- Squiccirini has been a member of CEC since 2007. He has served as the council's first-vice president for the past seven years. He has been an advocate for capital plan funding for District 31 schools. Squiccirini has one child who graduated Tottenville High School and will be attending Wagner College and a second child who will be a sophomore at Tottenville High School. His youngest child will be entering seventh grade at Barnes Intermediate School (I.S. 24), Great Kills.
- Michael Reilly -- Reilly has been a member of CEC 31 since July, 2009. He is currently the CEC president and co-chair of CEC 31's Transportation & Safety Committee. Reilly has been an advocate for legislative and policy improvements related to transportation and safety that impact schools and communities. Reilly has three children who attend PS 55, Eltingville, Bernstein Intermediate School (I.S. 7), Huguenot, and New Dorp High School.
- LaTonja McMillan -- McMillan has served on the School Leadership Team and as PTA president at PS 31, New Brighton. She is in her second term as a CEC member. She is a member of the Staten Island Federation of PTAs' Multicultural Committee and is a member of Literacy Inc.
- Irene Maiello -- Maiello is in her second term as a CEC member and currently serves as the council's recording secretary. She has served as a volunteer at PS 30 and wants to remain engaged and involved in children's education. She believes that parents make the best advocates for their children's rights and are the strongest activists for their education services.
- Laura Timoney -- Timoney has been a council member since December 2012. She a is currently second-vice president of the panel and co-chairs the CEC's Special Education Committee. Borough President James Oddo appointed Timoney to her current term to continue her work as a special education advocate. She is the parent of two children who attend New Dorp High School and has served on the PTA and School Leadership Teams at several schools. She said she believes "parents should have a strong voice in education and that by working together, parents can greatly improve the public school system."
- Jennifer Arlen -- Arlen is in her second term as one of two of Oddo's appointees to the council. She has two children in the gifted and talented program at PS 3 in Pleasant Plains. She said she "hopes to help parents have a forum to safely and effectively voice their concerns with their children's education."
- Kara Buzga -- Buzga is serving her first term as a CEC member, and was selected to be the Council's Parliamentarian. She has been an active volunteer at the Petrides School, serving as a PTA board member and the School Leadership Team.
- Gina Kokolis -- Kokolis is a newly elected CEC member who is looking forward to helping all our children in District 31. She has served as a PTA treasurer and has experience volunteering at PS 53 in Bay Terrace. She is passionate about education and understands that every child learns differently and a one size educational plan does not fit every child.
- Ganimete Kastrati -- Kastrati has a daughter in eighth grade at Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2), Midland Beach. She is a newly elected CEC 31 member representing English Language Learners (ELL). Kastrati believes her experience as a math teacher and principal in her former country will be very helpful to District 31.
- Mary Almonte -- Almonte is newly elected to the CEC. She is the director of audience targeting for the Staten Island Advance, a Girl Scout troop leader, and parent of a Laurie Intermediate School (I.S. 72) student. She said she "takes tremendous pride in trying to make the borough a better place."
- Antoinette Williams -- Williams is newly elected to CEC 31. She is a proud parent of a third-grader who attends PS 65, Stapleton. She is very active with the kids in the community, ensuring they understand the importance of obtaining a good education. She believes that "children are not only our future but they are also our present. It's the work that we do now that will ensure a better educational system for all tomorrow."
- Jenna Zerino -- Zerino, a senior at the Petrides School, was selected by Superintendent Anthony Lodico to be the student member to CEC 31. She has been a student at Petrides since Kindergarten.
The CEC meets monthly, on the first Monday of the month, at the Petrides School, Sunnyside. You can learn more about the council through its website, or by calling 718-420-5746.