At its last meeting, the Roslyn School District Board of Education voted to extend the term of Interim Superintendent David J. Helme all the way to June 30, 2006. Originally, Helme agreed to serve until June 30 of this year.

If the board hires a permanent superintendent before the new date, then Helme's interim tenure would end. Or as the resolution states, Helme will serve until June 30, 2006 "or earlier at the discretion of the board."

For now, the board is busy with its search for a high school principal, plus other positions. According to Stanley Stern, president of the board, that body has not begun its search for a superintendent yet.

"He's [Helme] done a wonderful job in leading the district out of its financial and emotional upheaval," Stern said of Helme's time as interim superintendent.

"I thank the members of the board of education and the members of the community for the faith they have put in my leadership in such a short time," Helme said at the Feb. 10 meeting. "I think that much has been accomplished since my arrival last August, but at the same time much remains to be done. I pledge to the entire school community that I will continue to work to restore this district to its rightful place as one of the best public school systems in our nation."

In other personnel news, the board granted tenure to Dr. Charles Piemonte, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Dr. Piemonte then announced that he planned to retire at the end of August, 2005. After the embezzlement scandal was made public, Dr. Piemonte, in the summer of 2004, served as acting superintendent of the school district. School district officials praised him for providing stability to the system "during a period of extraordinary upheaval."

At the Feb. 10 meeting, the board also approved several resolutions concerning auditing practices and demographic analysis.

One resolution approves a payment of $9,500 to R.S. Abrams & CO., LLP, for services provided to analyze the retirement compensation reported by former assistant superintendents to the New York State Teachers Retirement System.

The board also passed a resolution approving a proposal at a cost not to exceed $10,950 from the Transportation Advisory Services to perform a comprehensive operational and financial audit of all school district transportation. The resolution also provides for a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of outsourcing such transportation and to authorize the president of the board of education to execute the appropriate contract.

Concerning school district demographics, the board approved a proposal from Columbia Educational Associates, Inc. to provide a comprehensive demographic analysis including enrollment projects and building utilization projections at a cost of $7,500.

Also on the auditing front, the board has hired Maximus, Inc. to perform fixed asset inventory and property appraisal services as recommended by the district's independent auditors. The purpose is for Maximus to develop sufficient documentation for inventory reconciliation purposes at a cost not to exceed $10,500.

The district has already eliminated the use of third party administrators for dental, life, vision, and excess major medical insurances. Toward that end, the board approved a contract with Ceridian Benefit Services to act as a third party administrator for all COBRA recipients. The annual cost will be $4,600. District officials claim that eliminating third party administrators for excess medical insurances will "more than meet" the Ceridian expenses.

Finally, the board tabled until a future meeting a resolution to approve a security proposal with Westech Investigators, Inc., to provide comprehensive security services to the school district from now through June 30 at a cost of $75,631.78.

The next public works session of the board will be held Thursday, March 10. The next meeting is Thursday, March 31.