He’s still in charge.
In a unanimous vote, Christopher Spinelli was reelected president of District 22’s Community Education Council (CEC), a volunteer parents group advocating for schools in Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach and parts of Midwood, Flatbush and Sheepshead Bay.
“It’s great,” he told this paper. “It’s always good to have a vote of confidence from the members.”
Spinelli, who has been president of the CEC since it replaced the local school board in 2004, believes his longevity is a sign of his success in leading the council.
“I like to think that I’m doing a good job and I’ve been able to reach out to parents and to the schools and work well with my fellow council members,” he said.
While many councils have had a revolving door for presidents, Spinelli said it’s beneficial for the CEC – and schools – to have an experienced president.
“I know that the councils have had a high turnover in members,” he explained. But, “I feel that you do need some longevity in this position. You need a little institutional memory to work from.”
Spinelli will use his experience in September when school resumes and the CEC really gets down to business.
A major focus of the council in the coming months will be mayoral control. The law will sunset in 2009 and the state legislature can either renew the law or create a new set of rules.
The mayoral control law will also determine the future of the CECs, as they were created under the law.
“When the mayoral control legislation came out, it did away with the school boards and in its place created the CECs,” Spinelli said. “That’s one thing that has not been discussed. If the legislation were to not be reauthorized, exactly what would happen? Would we resort back to school boards?”
In addition to exploring the future of school governance, District 22’s CEC will try to boost the reputations of local schools to attract Brooklyn’s brightest youngsters.
“We’re going to continue to focus on what we identified as our goals – raising the profile of the middle schools in District 22 and putting emphasis on our special education programs and assisting parents of special needs [students],” Spinelli said. “I still want to be able to support in any way we can the really wonderful things going on in District 22 schools.”
