Carol Lomascolo is now officially Tuxedo schools chief

New superintendent sets sights on community's ideas and the school's Greenwood Lake connection TUXEDO — It’s finally official. Although announced in June, the Tuxedo School Board finalized all the details regarding the appointment of Carol Lomascolo as the district’s new superintendent of school at its October board meeting. Lomascolo, who lives in Thiells in Rockland County, had been serving as interim superintendent since March 1, when Joseph Zanetti, who served as the district’s superintendent for 13 years, retired. At the time of Zanetti’s retirement announcement, Lomascolo was named assistant superintendent as part of the transition to her interim superintendency status to ensure there would be a seamless changeover. And there was seamlessness in the move because Lomascolo was well-versed in district operations. She first joined the Tuxedo School District in September 1994 as a high school math teacher and later taught advance placement and honors computer classes at the school. She also served as the district’s K-12 computer coordinator, holding both posts for nine years. In July 2003, she was named director of pupil personnel services and technology. She oversaw those services for a year, leaving Tuxedo in August 2004 to join the Yorktown School District as its director of technology. But Lomascolo returned to Tuxedo the following school year to take on the role of director of both curriculum and pupil personnel services. In December 2009, she took on the added responsibility of director of technology services. “I was a teacher (here), I’ve held many positions (here),” said Lomascolo, who started her career working at PepsiCo in Westchester County in its Management Information Systems Department before switching to academia. “I know the community. There’s a trust I hope comes with that.” Focus groups One of the most important projects Lomascolo is launching her superintendency with is holding focus group meetings with all of the district’s various constituents to learn what’s going on in their minds and what they want to see the district address. The groups will be varied, and already included graduating students and parents of the Class of 2011. Lomascolo will be scheduling meeting with senior citizens, businesses, teachers, staff, and any group having dealings with the Tuxedo district, particularly parents, groups and organizations that live in Greenwood Lake. “If you don’t listen, you don’t know,” said Lomascolo, who earned her bachelor’s degree in math/education with a certification as a secondary math teacher and her master’s degree in math, with an education focus, from Iona in New Rochelle. “You may be thinking one thing, but the community may have a different slant.” Though there is no current timeline for completion, Lomascolo will package focus group comments into a report to the Board of Education. “I expect there will be many good ideas,” she said. “We will take this information to see what we can do better as a district.” Like any other school district, Tuxedo has its own set of challenges. Greenwood Lake students Among them are positive relations with the Greenwood Lake School District, which contracts with Tuxedo to send its high school students to George F. Baker High School. The districts are now in the fourth year of a five year contract, and Lomascolo said the two groups are having “informal conversations” about next steps. Then, there’s also enrollment challenges at the Warwick Valley School District. Though the Village of Greenwood Lake lies within the Town of Warwick, residents voted down having Greenwood Lake high school students attend Warwick Valley High School, requiring those students to continue at Baker. It remains to be seen how projections for lower enrollments in the Warwick district will affect the perspective of Greenwood Lake and Warwick school officials as well as town residents on revisiting the idea of having Greenwood Lake students go to school in Warwick. But Lomascolo remained upbeat about the very good relations she feels Tuxedo and Greenwood Lake have. “Our students blend together,” she said. “I never know who Greenwood Lake students are and who Tuxedo students are. I’d like to keep that, to continue that. We have a good foundation, good relations with Greenwood Lake. We are two small school districts who value that - the small size we have.” Next year’s budget Tuxedo has already begun preliminary work for its 2012-2013 budget and Lomascolo knows it will be a challenging process. “I do think the direction of the state is where it should be,” she said, noting how busy Tuxedo is with mandates for new professional review processes, core curriculum and other requirements. “You can always do better. If you look past all the foundations of what the state is trying to do, I support the philosophy of continuous improvement.” With districts facing a two percent cap, Tuxedo is looking at revenue and expense projections and what a two percent cap will look like. “Communicating to the community is critical,” she added. “What does a two percent cap mean to them? They need to understand this. We’ll be looking at how we can use technology to educate them about this. We might need budget forums. I am very concerned that we need to make sure they (district taxpayers) understand what is out there. The more they know about what’s included (in the budget), the more confidence they will have in us.” Lomascolo plans to be more visible to students on campus as she continues to settle into her role. “I always love to get out into the classrooms, to the games, to the plays,” she said. “I need to be better at doing this. I really like to walk around and touch base with people. It is much easier to do this in a small district like ours.” Now with eight months experience as Tuxedo schools chief, Lomascolo reminded district constituents that she’s particularly open to feedback - whether good or not. “We can’t do better at something if we don’t know,” she said. “I think we have an excellent school district and my intent is to keep it that way and 'grow it’ any way I can. Collaboration is the key. We need to work together, whether it’s faculty on campus, or Greenwood Lake and Tuxedo, or students with teachers. That is what really makes the district. There is a direct line of communication with the superintendent. It’s important for me to reach out.” - Nancy Kriz