Carol Lomascolo to serve as Tuxedo interim schools chief

District’s director of curriculum/pupil support services and information technology joined Tuxedo in 1994 as a math teacher TUXEDO - As the Tuxedo School District prepares itself for the retirement of Joseph Zanetti - its long-time superintendent - next month, the Tuxedo Board of Education has named Carol Lomascolo to serve as interim superintendent, effective March 1. Lomascolo, who lives in Thiells in Rockland County, was most recently the district’s director of curriculum/pupil support services (PPS) and information technology. As part of her transition to interim superintendent, she was named the district’s assistant superintendent for an approximate eight-week period which began Jan. 1. Lomascolo will serve as interim superintendent through June 30 as the district continues its search for Zanetti’s permanent replacement. “She understands the district and the importance of relationships, the importance of students and the importance of collaboration,” said Zanetti. “I expect she will do a really, really nice job to keep our district going in the right direction. The table is set for a very interesting couple of years here.” Originally working for PepsiCo in Westchester County in its Management Information Systems Department, Lomascolo joined the district as a math teacher in 1994. She later assumed responsibilities to teach advanced placement and honors computer classes in the high school. In 2003, Lomascolo was named the district’s director of PPS/technology. But in 2004, she left Tuxedo to accept a position with the Yorktown School District in Westchester County as its director of technology. However, Lomascolo returned to Tuxedo the following year as its director of curriculum/PPS, later adding the information technology component to her responsibilities. Lomascolo is a graduate of Iona College in New Rochelle, earning a bachelor’s degree in math/education with a certification as a secondary math teacher. She also earned her master’s degree in math, with an education focus, from Iona as well. Lomascolo welcomed the opportunity to serve as interim superintendent. “I do love this district,” she said. “There’s something about being in a small district. You get to see and be involved in so many things that you don’t get in a large district.” Lomascolo to apply for Tuxedo superintendency TUXEDO - Carol Lomascolo, who is transitioning to the role of interim superintendent for the Tuxedo School District, announced her intention to apply for the Tuxedo superintendent position this week. “I do plan to apply,” said Lomascolo on Tuesday. “I 'think the very big picture.’ I’m very visionary. There’s many challenges coming down the pike for this district and all are important.” Among them are relations with the Greenwood Lake School District, which contracts with Tuxedo to send its high school students to George F. Baker High School, and the negotiations regarding that arrangement as that contract nears renewal. Adding to the mix are the 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. There are also labor negotiations between the district and the Tuxedo Teachers Association, the Tuxedo Administrators Association and the Tuxedo Employees Union, which represent about 75 percent of district employees combined. Media reports indicated leaders of those groups plan to call in mediators from the State Public Employment Relations Board to assist in talks. And then there’s there the ongoing school budget and property tax issues facing Tuxedo --- as well as all districts - as New York State seeks to get a handle on its own long-standing fiscal crisis. None of these deter Lomascolo’s desire to be Tuxedo’s new schools chief. “I want to move this district in the direction it needs to go in five years’ time down the road, in 10 years’ time down the road,” said Lomascolo. “And here, you’re able to know everyone and be able to have so much more of an impact than in a larger district. That’s what makes you fall in love with this district.” - Nancy Kriz