By Howard Koplowitz
Community District Education Council 27 elected new officers for the 2008-09 school year during its monthly business meeting Monday.
CDEC 27 President Andrew Baumann, 1st Vice President Mara Hochhauser, 2nd Vice President Cynthia Dell Italia and Treasurer Shalom Becker all retained their positions from the past school year.
The council elected a new treasurer, replacing Margaret Kearns-Stanley with Dawn Marie LoBello. Kearns-Stanley is still a council member.
District 27 covers schools in Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Richmond Hill and the Rockaways.
In discussing expectations for the upcoming school year, Baumann said the city Department of Education's five-year plan runs out at the end of the year and that the future of CDECs could be in danger. He said there were discussions to remove CDECs from the DOE structure.
“This could be the last year of CEC, period,” he said. “We have a lot to do this year.”
He said CDEC 27 will investigate the city DOE's policy on school lunches after several concerns were raised by council members.
Coralanne Griffith-Hunt, a CDEC 27 member, said her son is allergic to fish and peanut butter and that he had to go hungry at school one day last year because his school had no alternatives on the menu.
