Despite former Carle Place Board of Education President Lawrence F. Zaino being reelected to the board in May, Vanessa Dong-Monaco was sworn in as the board president at the district’s reorganization meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
When the floor opened for nominations, Zaino himself gave the nod to the former first vice president. Jacqueline DaTorre seconded the decision to make Dong-Monaco the president of the board.
Kathleen Reardon was sworn in as the only vice president on the board.
Zaino has been a member of the board since 1999 and served as president for many years. In April, he told Schneps Media LI that his decision to run for reelection stemmed from wanting to leverage his experience to serve the community where he and his children grew up.
Zaino said he has been a resident of Westbury and Carle Place for his whole life.
Community members took to the polls in May to decide on the school district’s budget and the future of its board of education. Although Zaino was running uncontested, some felt that he shouldn’t be on the district’s school board. Write-in candidates received 110 votes, or 20.99%, of the tally.
Tuesday’s meeting began with the national anthem and a prayer. As the rest of the room began to sit down, Zaino remained standing and told the room about the importance of the reorganization meeting.
“As of now, there are no presidents or vice presidents, so our district clerk will start us off,” he said.
