BOE Overrules Superintendent's Recommended Hires

The Glen Cove Board of Education overruled the Superintendent's preferred candidates for open teacher positions multiple times this year, according to BOE member Joel Sunshine.

The issue was addressed at Monday night's Board meeting at Robert M. Finley Middle School.

Sunshine argued that the hiring of specific personnel should be deferred to the appointed Superintendent Dr. Joseph Laria.

"We are not educational experts, Dr. Laria is," said Sunshine. "We are not involved in the hiring process. The Board does not do background checks or talk to former employees. That is the Superintendent's job and we hired him as the educational expert. The BOE does not have enough combined experience to even make that judgment."

According to Sunshine, the procedure to overrule a superintendent's recommendation is not a normal custom in any school district. The superintendent is required to pick two resumes, conduct the interview and recommend his preferred choice to the school board. The BOE's job is to approve the hire.

Other Board members argued that past hires in the district recommended by superintendents have not been successful.

"The track record over the last five years has not been real good," said BOE member David Huggins. "It's been a real bust."

According to Laria, the BOE has a right to vote its conscious, and the superintendent should be professional enough not to take offense.

"Under state law, the superintendent is required to recommend candidates and propose those candidates to the board," said Laria. "Sometimes the board disposes of that recommendation. That's the way the system works; those are the rules of engagement."

The candidates brought before the BOE are both highly qualified, said Laria: "there were only slight nuances that separated them."