Two years ago, Jim Gounaris was a community activist who won election to the Herricks Board of Education as an 11th hour dark horse candidate.
At Monday night’s reorganization meeting, Gounaris was unanimously elected Herricks board president, replacing Christine Turner.
“When I ran I just wanted to be a member on the board, an active member and an integral member,” he said. “In the last two years, I have immersed myself in the business of the district.”
Board member Nancy Feinstein was the board’s unanimous choice to replace Gounaris as vice president. Newly elected board member Juleigh Chen was sworn in along with the board’s new officers.
Turner, who will now serve in her 24th year on the board in a position as parliamentarian created for her, said she was supportive of the changes.
“They wanted to do it, so I say ‘Go for it’,” Turner said.
She said she couldn’t recall how many of her 24 years had been served as president.
Gounaris said that in 2011 he had considered running against Turner, but instead decided to take on Jonai Singh, a well known Herricks PTA activist who had the support of the school board. He won handily in what many observers considered an upset.
Gounaris said that from the time he was sworn in, the thought of being board president “grew” as his impact on the board became increasingly evident.
Gounaris said he has interacted regularly with state Sen. Jack Martins and Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel on issues related to the Herricks School District.
That included nudging Martins on a bill that would enable the school district to go after rogue landlords who rent illegal apartments to people, he said.
Under the proposed legislation, the school district could seek monetary damages from landlords who rent illegal apartments for the cost of students enrolled in Herricks schools living in those apartments.
Gounaris, a former member of the PTA Council and the Denton Avenue School PTA, recently supported parents in a successful effort to restore a Spanish immersion program at the Denton Avenue School.
Gounaris said he was optimistic that the board will be able to reach an amicable settlement in the upcoming contract negotiations with the Herricks Teachers Association and the Herricks administrators, despite the two sides’ inability to renegotiate the existing contract to avoid staff cuts the past two years.
“I am confident that we are all on the same page right now. At the end of the day, it’s about providing the best education for the kids. Our differences are far fewer than people believe,” Gounaris said.
Gounaris said all five school board members will be involved in the negotiations with the teachers and the administrators.
“Our members and I look forward to working with the union leadership to make sure we enhance and maintain the high quality education that they district expects and that the parents require,” Gounaris said.
Gounaris said he intends to follows Turner’s example in leading the board.
“I hope to meet her expectations and the expectations of the entire community. And I anticipate doing so,” Gounaris said.
Gounaris said he plans to continue his lobbying efforts to address the tax cap and unfunded state mandates that have forced the Herricks board to scramble to save academic programs.
He said becoming board president was part of a “natural progression” of his work, but he doesn’t believe it will alter the way the board functions.
“It just makes me the first among five equals,” Gounaris said.
In addition to serving on the board, Gounaris is a trustee American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association’s Educational Foundation, which manages a $3 million fund for scholarships for students of Hellenic descent and also a board member of the Hellenic Neighborhood Action Committee Home Services Board, which manages a $60 million enterprise to provide home care services for New York City resident.
He also currently teaches eighth grade Sunday school at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Flushing.
Feinstein, who was elected in an uncontested election last year was co-president of the Denton School PTA and co-president of the Herricks Council of PTAs. She was co-president of Herricks Middle School PTA when she stood for election last year.
She said she is looking forward to her role as board vice president.
“You want to do something different,” Feinstein said.
In other developments at the board’s regular meeting:
• Feinstein and Chen were selected as the board’s representatives to the BOCES Budget Advisory Committee.
• The school board accepted a $41,679 check from the Federal Emergency Management Association as reimbursement for cleanup costs the school district incurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. At its June 6 meeting, the board accepted a check of $208,395.20 from FEMA, which brought the district’s total reimbursement to $250.074.24.
• The board renewed its student accident insurance policy with NYBEST Agency at a cost of $29,654 for basic and catastrophic coverage. The district switched insurance carriers when its former carrier offered coverage for $47,000, up from $27,000 last year, according to Helen Costigan, Herricks assistant superintendent for business. NYBEST is an insurance cooperative that currently provides student insruance coverage for 146 other school districts statewide.
• The school board approved a deal with Triad Group to continue administering the district’s self-insured workers’ compensation plan for the 2013-14 school year at a cost of $21,715, up from $21,500 in the current year. Triad’s fee for excess workers compensation insurance with a limit of $450,000 will rise to $38,159 next year, compared to $30,653 for the current year.
• The board approved an agreement with Aurora, Col.-based Campuspeak for two presentations at the middle school and high school by Ethan Zohn entitled “Character: The Ultimate Survival Tool.” The Sept. 4 presentations about bullying, treating others with respect and developing one’s own respect were requested by administrators in the middle school and high school, according to Deirdre Hayes, Herricks assistant superintendent for curriculum.
