Smallwood principal recommended
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Discussions concerning which administrative structure to use at Smallwood Drive Elementary next year continued at the Feb. 13 Amherst Central School Board meeting.

An ad hoc parent/faculty committee, led by Smallwood Drive fifth-grade teacher Michael Milliman and district parent Dr. Kelly Ahuna, recommended keeping one principal at the school. Smallwood Principal Barbara Marotto will retire July 1 after serving the district for 13 years, and the board is examining whether or not to divide the job into two.

Windermere Boulevard, the district's other elementary school, has two principals. Mary Lavin heads kindergarten through second grade, and Dan Lewis leads the third through fifth grades. Each elementary school serves 672 students.

Milliman described Smallwood as a "tapestry of tradition" and cites the school's strong record of award-winning faculty and students as reasons to not change the administrative structure.

"It's clear to us that we need a single leader," he said. "We need someone who will support professional growth of the teachers, is knowledgeable, and can stimulate teacher efficacy."

Ahuna said parents feel confident in the Smallwood faculty year to year and could not see the district divorcing the school from one principal.

"It would be sort of fracturing the whole," she added. "I know Windermere is doing very well (with two principals). I don't see why we need that."

Smallwood Gifted and Talented teacher Susan Gasbarrini told the board if the district changed the administrative structure "you would be ostracizing the teachers from one another and showing no faith in what Mrs. Marotto has built."

In another matter, Lavin has been nominated to represent the district on the New York State commission for pre-K.