School Board Reorganizes and Hears Fire Report

The Massapequa School District held their annual reorganization meeting Thursday night and when the dust settled, things pretty much looked the same.

That's because there were no changes from the current board. Trustee Tim Taylor, who was re-elected in May took the oath of office and all the board officers remained in place.

Christine Lupetin Perrino will once again serve as president, while Maryanne Fisher will remain as Vice President. The board voted unanimously to reappoint them.

Thomas Caltabiano will also continue as secretary. He was also a unanimous choice, although Taylor placed fellow trustee Jane Ryan's name in nomination.

After approving district appointments and passing other resolutions necessary to keep the schools running, the reorganization meeting was closed and the board turned their attention to the regular meeting.

On the agenda was a report from Kevin Herbst who conducted a fire inspection in school buildings in March.

While Herbst said he saw no major problems at any of the schools, he noted one issue at the Birch Lane School.

"I did find an extension cord that was hooked up to the freezer unit in the cafeteria," he said. "It was removed and I think two or three weeks later we got a fire there."

There was a fire at the school in March which was caused by a similar problem according to Alan Adcock the school's assistant superintendent for business.

"Basically the fire started because a refrigeration unit was plugged into a power strip that was not meant to take that type of [power,]"  he said adding, "We were actually quite lucky, because there was no major damage." It wasn't clear if the same extension cord found in the inspection was involved.

The Sunday afternoon fire "basically put itself out" according to Adcock because the extension cord was plugged into a concrete block wall. 

But because of the incident, principals and school custodians were given reminders of safety procedures.

"There should be no power strips that are operating any type of appliances," Adcock said.  

The refrigerator involved was used for a supplemental food service line used to accommodate crowds in the cafeteria.

That line has now been reconfigured according to superintendent Charles Sulc.