Riverhead school board authorizes new hires for pupil services staff who will earn more than $260k a year combined

The Riverhead Central School District Board of Education approved new hires last Wednesday for two positions in the office of Pupil Personnel Services. Salaries for the new employees total more than $260,000 annually.

Darla Hagemeyer was hired to serve as assistant director of PPS effective April 21, replacing Maureen Martin. Ms. Hagemeyer’s contract runs through April 20, 2026, at an annual salary of $141,755. She resigned from her previous role of special education facilitator effective April 20. 

Also hired last Wednesday was Matthew Prahl, who will serve as assistant to the director of Pupil Personnel Services. Mr. Prahl’s term also began April 21 and runs through April 20, 2026, at an annual salary of $125,254. 

During a special meeting last September, the Board of Education accepted the resignation of Jeanne-Marie Mazzaferro from the position of director of PPS and special education, effective Oct. 31, 2022. On Oct. 11, the board hired Cheryl Pedisich to replace Ms. Mazzaferro on an interim basis. Ms. Pedisch resigned from the position effective April 10. 

On March 28, the board approved Melissa DeRosa for a probationary appointment as the new director of special education and PPS. Ms. De Rosa’s term, which carries an annual salary of $159,099, began April 11 and runs through April 10, 2027. The district is not replacing the role of facilitator. The funds for the salary of these new hires was accounted for in the budget.

CONCERNS OVER SECURITY MEASURES 

Also at last Wednesday’s BOE meeting, community members, parents and students expressed concerns about the district’s safety protocols, prompted by several events that occurred within the past month. 

On March 28, a 16-year-old was attacked by a knife-wielding group while walking from the high school in the area behind Harbor Freight Tools. According to police, he was confronted by five other juveniles wearing black ski masks who were heading for the adjacent shopping center. One of the other juveniles demanded the student’s belongings while displaying a knife, a struggle ensued and the victim was cut in the chest with a knife. He was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to authorities. 

Three days later, a hold-in-place went into effect at the high school after a student there was found in possession of over a dozen loose .22 caliber bullets. Then, on April 12, a confrontation among teenagers in Calverton left 15-year-old high school student Preston Gamble dead after gunshots were fired during a fistfight.

Connor Moos, a high school senior and student representative, addressed the school board publicly last week, saying he has alerted school administrators to students’ concerns and anxieties.

“Many students have been concerned and worried about their safety throughout the school, so I have spoken with [high school principal Sean O’Hara and Superintendent Augustine Tornatore] today about these safety concerns being expressed by the student body and we were able to come up with some solutions to ensure that every student at the high school can feel safe while in the building,” Connor told board members. “We are now exploring avenues in which we can improve and expand upon existing security measures, particularly with the protocols in place involving being required to present ID while entering back in school building.”

Connor also emphasized the importance of participating in the next Riverhead Parent Administration Connection meeting on Wednesday, May 3, at 11:30 a.m. and an additional meeting at 6 p.m. The morning meeting will be virtual and the evening meeting will be in-person at the high school auditorium.

“I suggest that this PAC meeting should serve as a forum with administration and our director of security and where all members of the school community can ask questions and express their concerns in an instructive manner,” Connor said.

During the meeting, numerous community members and parents asked the board to do something and to make students security the district’s No. 1 priority.

In a statement emailed to the News-Review Friday, Mr. Tornatore said the district continues to work with the town’s police department to identify measures, including additional police patrol, that might be taken to “better safeguard those areas contiguous to district properties,” since all but one of the incidents brought up to the board have occurred off school grounds. The statement also said the safety of the district’s students, faculty and staff “remains the districts highest priority.”

Riverhead Town Police Chief David Hegermiller said the police department and school district have always “had a good relationship.” He said is he’s in regular communication with the district’s director of safety and security, Terrence Culhane.

“We work hand in hand with the superintendent and with the school security staff,” the chief said. “If there’s an issue that they know about, we’re there, even if it’s just extra patrols or to show support.”

The police department was present at the school for the week after Preston Gamble’s death, he said.

“The district’s security personnel are conducting an internal review of the district’s on-campus security procedures and protocols to determine what, if any, additional protocols or systems might be considered to enhance security on our campuses and in our school buildings,” Mr. Tornatore said.

ESL DIRECTOR POSITION ABOLISHED

The Board of Education also voted last Wednesday to abolish the full-time position of director of English as a second language K-12, effective June 30. According to the agenda item, the “excessed professional staff member shall be placed on a preferred eligible list.” 

They plan to hire for a new position that would include more responsibilities, Mr. Tornatore said in response to a community member who questioned the decision.

“It’s really that we’re restructuring, as we are looking to be able to hire somebody who will be able to meet more needs of our students so we do have an anticipated posting and we are hopeful that we will be able to continue to offer more to our students with this new position,” the superintendent said.

Lori Koerner, assistant superintendent for human resources and elementary education, said the title of the new position will be director of social and emotional learning, English as a new language, special programming and community outreach.

“We’re very excited and looking forward to expanding our programs,” she said.