Buckley, Grisafi to Retire from Herricks School Board

There will be two open seats on the Herricks Board of Education on the May ballot as longtime trustees Richard Buckley and Peter Grisafi announced that they would not seek reelection.

The shocking news came at the outset of the board’s March 1 meeting at the and will end two of the longest-serving positions currently on the school board. Only board president Christine Turner has served more time on the board with 22 years.

“We kept it simple,” Buckley said of the work he had done with Grisafi and Turner over his 9 years on the board, citing the new full-day kindergarten and track at the high school. “People say being on the school board is the most unrewarding job anyone can have and there is some truth to that. I never realized how often one can get yelled at while giving up his time freely in the service of the community.”

The current board vice-president said that the passage of his three daughters through the school district, with his youngest graduating in 2013, was a major contributing factor to his decision.

“I have always believed that the makeup of the board should be a mixture of trustees with children that have already gone through the system and trustees with children in the schools when they are on the board,” Buckley said. “For myself, I have always valued having my children experiencing the schools while I am on the board; it gave me insights that I felt were invaluable to my decisions.”

Saying his decision was made “with mixed emotions,” Grisafi also made the decision to end his 16 year run, but did not overtly cite any specific reason. He stated that he would give a speech at his final board meeting in June “and I am sure there are people out there who have more energy who will run.” Grisafi’s son was a member of the Herricks Class of 2008.

“I want to thank my colleagues, my fellow boards members, the administration, teachers, custodians and bus drivers,” Grisafi said. “I truly feel I have been supported by everybody.”

Buckley too thanked the administrators “for their guidance,” saying of the board members that “it has been a pleasure to work with such selfless, dedicated people,” as well as his family “for understanding the value of my role in this district.”

Harkening back to the board’s decision making process which “was our goal for all the years I was on the board,” Buckley did place a small request upon the “new hands” in which decisions would rest after July 1: “always keep in mind our first question, how will it affect the children.”