Great neck times 092316

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Friday, September 23, 2016

Careers & Education

r publications media / litmo a blank slate

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THE PULSE OF THE PENINSULA

Vol. 91, No. 39

CAREERS & EDUCATION

ED BOARD RESPONDS TO STATE AUDIT

MANGANO SEEKS $105 TICKET FEE

PAGES 33-40

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r 23, 2016 n • septembe special sectio

Vigilant fire prez dies at 64

S H AV I N G F O R A C A U S E

9/11 service seen as cause of death BY J OE N I K I C Kenneth Bleck, president of the Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company, died last Thursday after an eight-year battle with esophageal cancer. He was 64. Bleck was known to the fire department and the community as a “father figure” who loved his family and treated everyone with respect, Vigilant Chief Josh Forst said. “It’s easy to say that you care about someone, but Kenny genuinely cared about the people,” Forst said. “He was someone who put 100 percent into everything he did.” Originally from East Meadow, Bleck moved to Great Neck in 1977 and resided in the Village of Great Neck Estates. He joined the Vigilant Fire Company in October 1992. Dave Weiss, Vigilant Fire Company chairman, said it wasn’t a “common thing” for a 40-year-old with a wife and two children at home to join the department. Continued on Page 69

PHOTO BY JEFF BARLOWE

Giving up their hair for childhood cancer research are, from left: Steven Chasen, Samuel Go, Adam Krieger, Jonathan Perlman, and William Miecuna. All are now graduated from Great Neck South High School. See story on page 49.

Bloom resigns from school board District to hold special election for trustee to finish remainder of term BY J OE N I K I C The Great Neck Board of Education president, Barbara Berkowitz, announced Monday that school board Trustee Monique Bloom had notified the board that she was resigning ef-

fective Tuesday. Berkowitz said at Monday’s school board meeting that Bloom was an important member of the board and played a pivotal role in hiring Superintendent Teresa Prendergast last year. “Monique has been an extremely valuable member of our board, both strong and wise, and was a vital part in the huge undertaking in the beginning of 2015 to select a new superintendent,” she

said. “Personally, I can tell you that she will definitely be sorely missed.” Bloom, who was re-elected to her seat in May, won her first full term on the board in March 2013 after being appointed in June 2012 to replace board Vice President Fran Langsner, who moved outside the school district. She submitted a letter of resignation to the board, which Berkowitz read at the meeting.

“My corporate travel commitments have become at this point completely overwhelming and do not leave me with enough time to properly execute my responsibilities as a Board of Education member, in my opinion,” Bloom said in the letter. “As I do not foresee this situation’s potential improvement, I feel that I must resign my position so that the community might select someone who has more time Continued on Page 49

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