The Syosset Board of Education welcomed a newcomer to its board and reorganized, swearing in incumbent President Carol Cheng and new Vice President Lisa Coscia.
In addition to its reorganization, the board looked at its districtwide safety plan at the first meeting of the 2025-2026 school year, held on Monday, July 1.
To begin the meeting, Lynn Abramson, Thomas Rotolo and David Ginsburg were sworn onto the board after their election this past May. Abramson and Rotolo have served on the board since 2022 and 2019, respectively. This marks Ginsburg’s first year on the board.
“Congratulations to our newly elected trustee, Mr. Ginsburg, and our newly re-elected trustees, Ms. Abramson and Mr. Rotolo. I look forward to working with all of you for the next school year,” Cheng said.
Cheng, who served as president of the board for the 2024-2025 academic year, was sworn in for another year in her role. Trustee Susan Falkove nominated Cheng to her role, and the board unanimously approved the nomination.
“Thank you for entrusting me with this position. It’s the greatest honor to be your board president,” Cheng said.
Coscia was sworn in as vice president after serving as a trustee. Former vice president Brian Grieco nominated Coscia, and the board unanimously approved the nomination.
“I look forward to serving as the vice president of the board for this upcoming school year, and I also look forward to working closely with Ms. Cheng,” Coscia said. She thanked Grieco for his work as vice president for the previous two school years.
Superintendent Thomas Rogers also took the oath of office as he entered his twelfth year in the district. Cheng said she looks forward to another year working alongside him.
The school board also reviewed the district’s school safety plan, examining how prevention practices and training affect students and staff.
“These plans are designed to protect students, families, and staff by addressing emergency prevention and response,” said Adam Kuranishi, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources and chief emergency officer.
He said a “key component” of the plan is to train students and staff in peer mediation, threat assessment and conflict resolution. He said the school also collaborates with local law enforcement to enhance security practices.
Kuranishi said the districtwide emergency response plan outlines prevention, mitigation, protection, response, and recovery tactics, including training, security protocols, and student support.
Erin Goldthwaite, assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services, said staff undergo annual training, and law enforcement and central administration conduct annual building walkthroughs.
“We also do anonymous reporting systems through Sandy Hook Anonymous,” she said. Goldthwaite said the IT department regularly monitors school devices as well.
Kuranishi said preparedness is assessed through drills and communication with students. Goldthwaite said that drills are performed in a trauma-informed and age-appropriate manner to avoid inducing previous traumas that a person has experienced.
“Trauma-informed means an understanding of what trauma is and how it affects both students and adults in our school system,” she said.
In the event of an emergency, Kuranishi said, the school will contact and deploy the appropriate personnel—such as the school nurse or security—and coordinate with emergency services and resources. He said that while the districtwide plan is public, building-level emergency response is confidential and dictates how individual schools handle incidents like lockdowns, shelter-in-place, evacuations and lockouts.
The board thanked the district for their work on the plan, and Abramson commented on implementing an additional communication method.
Abramson suggested that the school implement a way to communicate directly with students via cell phone in the event of an emergency due to “limitations that potentially exist.”
Kuranishi said the districtwide safety plan is currently available for public comment. Public comment will end on Aug. 2, and the plan will be presented to the board for final adoption on Aug. 25.
For more information on the safety plan, visit syossetschools.org.
