4 New Members Join SB 30
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Community Education Council District 30 members were announced at the June 12 meeting held at I.S. 230 in Jackson Heights. Four new members will join seven returning members when the council begins its new term on July 1.

Newly elected CEC 30 members Rebecca Alexander, Vanessa R. Bynes, Michael McCoy and Shireen Soliman will join re-elected CEC 30 members Ernest Brooks, Dominic Coticchio, Lavinia Galatis, Jeffrey R. Guyton and Catherine Yankopoulos. Also returning to CEC 30 as reappointments by Borough President Helen Marshall are Jeannie Tsavaris-Basini and Jose Batista.

Cornelia Caraballo, Shing Wong and Syed Sohail will leave CEC 30 at the end of the month.

As mandated by New York state election law, nine parent members with children attending schools in the district were selected to the community education councils for each of the 32 community school districts in the city by a vote of the president, secretary, and treasurer of the Parents Association (PA) and/or Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of every elementary and intermediate school in the city on May 7 and 8.

Two more members who live, or own or operate a business in the district are appointed by each of the five borough presidents, giving each community education council a total of 11 voting members. A non-voting high school senior who lives in the community school district and is an elected student leader is also appointed to the council by the community superintendent.

In addition, there is also one citywide council on special education and one citywide council on high schools.

"I want to thank the council members that will be leaving us for their hard work and dedication and also those incumbents that will be returning," CEC 30 President Tsavaris-Basini said in a written statement read at the meeting.

Dr. Philip Composto, District 30 superintendent, said, "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with this group. Thank you for all you do for us."

Wong, Caraballo and Sohail, all elected in 2005, will receive certificates of recognition for their service on the council.

CEC 30 has had two members leave in the last year and three vacancies overall since the term began in 2005. But those numbers are minimal, compared to other school districts in the city.

As the elections were about to begin in May, the New York Times (April 28) reported that in at least two districts there were only four or five candidates on the ballot. District 30 was one of the few districts in the city that had full compliance with voting PAs/PTAs in every school.

In Queens, in addition to District 30, only Districts 24, 25 and 29 have had nine confirmed candidates elected to the new community education council term. District 26 still has three vacancies, District 28 two vacancies, and District 27 has one candidate whose eligibility is still pending.

Although the new CEC 30 term is two years, July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009, it is not clear if Tsavaris-Basini can serve the full term. Appointed to CEC 30 in July, 2004, she was reappointed in July, 2005. However, state law mandates a borough president appointee serve a maximum of two 2-year terms, totaling four years. Since Tsavaris-Basini served only one year in her first term, she challenged the law on the basis that it clearly defines a term as two years. If Tsavaris-Basini serves a second two year term, she will have been appointed for five years.