M-W schools chief hospitalized

CENTRAL VALLEY - Monroe-Woodbury School Superintendent Joseph DiLorenzo suffered what EMTs called a mini-stroke late Wednesday afternoon at the district’s administrative office on Route 32 and is being treated at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh. The Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education held an emergency meeting at 9:30 Wednesday night to appoint Edward Mehrhof, the assistant superintendent for human resources and the district’s incoming school superintendent, as acting superintendent while DiLorenzo is out of the office. “He’s doing well,” said Mehrhof on Thursday morning. “He knows people are worried about him. He’s spoken to his secretary and the district clerk this (Thursday) morning and even sent a couple of text messages to some district principals. He’s calling to say he’s feeling fine.” On Wednesday afternoon about 5 p.m., DiLorenzo was planning to join Mehrhof and Jeff White, assistant superintendent for business and management services, for a meeting, according to Mehrhof. At that meeting, Mehrhof said, DiLorenzo mentioned he wasn’t feeling well. “He didn’t look well,” Mehrhof said, and a decision was made to call an ambulance. Emergency responders quickly arrived. “They (EMTs) were saying it seemed like he suffered a mini-stroke,” said Mehrhof, noting it was only the EMTs’ initial assessment and no one else’s. Mehrhof stressed that throughout that time, DiLorenzo was “alert, cognizant and making jokes.” DiLorenzo was transported to St. Luke’s/Cornwall Hospital in Cornwall, where he was met by his wife, and later transferred to the main hospital in Newburgh. DiLorenzo, who will retire as superintendent at the end of the school year, was saying he’d be back to work immediately, but Mehrhof good-naturedly dismissed that idea. “I’m going to tie him to the hospital bed so he’s not coming,” Mehrof said. “We do anticipate he’ll be coming back to work soon.” The district posted a letter on its Web site (www.mw.k12.ny.us.) Thursday regarding DiLorenzo from School Board President Dr. Michael J. DiGeronimo. “As you may be aware, Joseph DiLorenzo, our Superintendent of Schools, experienced a medical emergency late Wednesday afternoon (April 14, 2010),” he wrote. “I’m very pleased to indicate that he has responded to treatment and is expected to make a complete recovery. It is anticipated he will be back in the office very shortly. In the interim, the Board of Education has appointed Mr. Edward Mehrhof to serve as acting Superintendent of Schools during Mr. DiLorenzo’s absence in order that he can devote his full time and energy to his recovery during this very busy time of the school year.” - Nancy Kriz