Mineola Board of Education President To Step Down

MINEOLA, NY — Mineola Board of Education President Christine Napolitano announced at a meeting on Thursday that she will not seek re-election to a fifth term this May.

Napolitano, who has served on the board for 12 years, said she notified Schools Superintendent Michael Nagler back in January that she had decided to retire at the end of her term in June. In her statement before the board, she went on to say that she feels it’s time for her to turn her attention back to her “own growing family and husband.”

“I am confident about where we are as a district and I know that our students are in wonderful hands with this administration and particularly, this board of education,” she said.

Napolitano, who was named to North Hempstead Town’s Women’s Roll of Honor in 2013, said she raised her three children in Mineola and she spent many years attending board meetings and knew that “being a trustee was where someone had a chance to make a real impact on the community.”

She described the district’s transformation in 12 years as “nothing short of remarkable,” saying that it is “almost unrecognizable” from the time she started in 2009.

Napolitano has endorsed Stacey Costigan-Decillis, who, she says, will be “a wonderful addition to the board. “Being a trustee is an incredibly tough but rewarding job, and I believe she is up to the challenge,” she added.

In a tweet after the school board meeting, Napolitano said that she will never be able to say “thank you enough” to the community for letting her to “share in this amazing journey.”

“It’s been the honor of my life,” she said, ending within the hashtag, forevermineolaproud.