John Specce got a royal send-off as he retired from his 13 years on the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School Board of Education. He has managed to maintain the trust and respect of the voting public throughout his elected volunteer career.

The cafeteria of the Vernon Middle School was filled with well-wishers as Town Clerk Fanny Corsentino and Legislator John Canning presented Mr. Specce with proclamations. Tammy Ashley presented him with the PTSA starfish pin. Judy Wasilchuk read a proclamation from NYS Senator Carl Marcellino.

Dr. George Chesterton, superintendent of schools said he had worked with over 25 board members and "John Specce clearly stands out as one of the best. He was able to sway minds in a good way." He said the answer was always in one of his boxes of information. In debates, his answers and concerns were always objective, he brought stability to the board. "It is a thankless job, but we here tonight can offer you the thanks you deserve," said Dr. Chesterton.

John Specce asked where the time went. He said the job was a labor of love - for anyone who has served. "You do it for the children." He added the pay was not that good and the hours were long but the best part was seeing the moving up exercises.

For the record, he served with 18 board members; three superintendents; three assistant superintendents; three Roosevelt principals; three Vernon principals; and one district treasurer, Janie Givens and one school attorney, Ed Robinson. He watched 12 high school graduations - all outdoors and hopefully the next will be outdoors too, he said.

He attended 353 work sessions and meetings and budget sessions and missed 5 1/2 meetings. Three were for a vacation conflict in the Bahamas; two were when he attended a board convention; and the half, he quipped was for napping, taken cumulatively, in the dark, during slide shows.

Mr. Specce thanked his wife Marcella who is his sounding board, critic, listener and who "Spends more time for the schools than I totaled." There was a standing ovation for the Specces.

At the school board meeting the thanks continued.

Vernon Principal Martin Malone remembered his first meeting with John Specce, nine years ago. They were putting in a new playground at the Vernon School and Mr. Malone said, "There, digging in mud as deep as I was - was John Specce. It was beyond the title of board member." It showed his interest in the community.

Resident Charles Gaulkin said he wanted to join in the salute to John Specce. "As one who was not always wildly enthusiastic of the school board, Mr. Specce was always objective, fair and independent." He showed he had a sense of humor hooking into John's earlier comment: "because sometimes I used to fall asleep - we watched each other."

Mr. Specce presented board president Tom Capozzoli a "board of education" paddle, saying he was sure he would be president again.

Mr. Specce said to Dr. Chesterton: the public has voted its confidence in you - with a big budget increase. Set benchmarks and let the board know early on if things aren't working as they should.

To the board he said, be tough, fair and accountable and do what has to be done. He said there is no secret to record keeping and gave each of them a notebook.

To Peg Bellavia he said, "You'll do a great job. Remember your campaign promise of better communication." He gave her his School Policy notebook, about six inches thick, and told her to memorize it by next week.

To the building principals he said he wished them well for the new year. To Dr. Scott he promised, "We're going to stand in the new gym." He complimented Judy Wasilchuk for her parliamentarianism. He said he would keep his records and share them with the board - "At no charge."

"It's been a memorable evening," said Mr. Specce.

At the regular board meeting on June 15, the OB-EN district teachers received a great compliment.

Ed Meehan, former Oyster Bay High School graduate, and president of the Crawley Foundation came to the June 15 Oyster Bay-East Norwich school board meeting to deliver a very positive message.

He said, "Our committee interviewed the students who applied for the group's scholarship.

"They liked their teachers. They said their teachers were available all the time, not only for extra help but for personal issues too. When a discussion was going on too long, the teachers would offer to continue talking over lunch," he said.

"It impressed me that teachers are really supportive of kids. That's what we pay taxes for. If we ever had to give you guys a report card, you get an A+ from us.

We thank you. You are doing a great job!"

He gave board members pamphlets that the Crawley Foundation sends out to members of the OBHS classes of 47 through 53. "That's how we raise our money - to bring back nostalgia to loosen their pocketbooks so we can give the kids more money." This year they gave scholarships to Heather Koines and Tiffany Gallo.

Coach Ed Crawley led the Oyster Bay teams to success and his players have never forgotten the lessons he taught them.

Charles Gaulkin questioned the district's spending on computers and asked how the material was chosen. Dr. Chesterton said they have researched the purchase. He said the new software will allow the district to maintain records and update information. If the state adds a new report they want, the software will be able to give that new information.

Dr. Jack Lin said you can't compare the cost of networking machines with other computers. They cost twice as much he said. "Networking compatibility raises the price." He said his company puts a 50 percent cost on top of the software price to include the maintenance cost and upgrade and modification costs.

He added that this software is only for New York State schools.

Dr. Chesterton said it will allow us to create reports necessary for NYS. If they want data base information - it is available. Reports are part of this package - it can be sent via the electronic pathway.

At the June 15 meeting, the board accepted a gift of $10,000 from the Auditorium Restoration Foundation. The gift was offered at the May school board meeting by Cliff Kane to be used for air conditioning the auditorium.

Mr. Kane explained that the project will cost $45,000. He asked the school board to help by having the work be done while the current school renovation is in progress.

Dr. Chesterton said because of the work being done on the library and adjacent areas, and since there were capital funds available, it could be accommodated in the work. Mr. Kane said they would keep donating money for the project, to the school.

At the June meeting, Judy Wasilchuk said, "As treasurer of the Renovation Committee - it was hard to see the check being written. It is taking such a great portion of the funds - but sitting in the auditorium during concerts - I know it will be great."

When the third grade students move up to the Vernon School, will the annual trip to the Theodore Roosevelt Gravesite at Youngs Cemetery be made by Vernon students or will students at his namesake school still make the march?

At the May meeting, Vernon Principal Martin Malone would like the trip to travel with the grade.

Roosevelt Principal Dennis Moller said he would like the trip to stay with his school. He said at the board meeting that the students used to walk the entire way from the Roosevelt School to Youngs Cemetery and therefore were possibly older children. Nowadays the children go by bus.

This issue is one of the many to be decided as the district adjusts to the new school configurations.