Rilling Pursues 7th Term on West Hempstead School Board

Carole Rilling has devoted 18 years of service to the West Hempstead school district as a member of the Board of Education, but the retired Garden City teacher has more to give.

“I believe in change if change makes sense, not change for change’s sakes, which often leads to failure,” says Rilling, who is running for a seventh term on the board next month against

Rilling says although there is room for improvement, she thinks the West Hempstead school district is on the right track, and that residents can still benefit from her experience in school governance.

After serving nearly two decades on the board, Rilling says she’s just as motivated as she was when she first ran in 1994. Back then, although she had been a resident of West Hempstead since she moved here in 1973 as a newlywed and sent her daughter to the public schools, it wasn’t until after she graduated that Rilling decided to run for the board.

“People couldn’t accuse me of having an agenda and just caring about my child because she was out of school,” Rilling said.

Instead, she was motivated to run by a desire to bring some of the great things happening in the Garden City school district, where, at the time, Rilling was teaching in the Middle School, to West Hempstead.

Although she says her daughter received a “really good education” and had a “wonderful experience” as a West Hempstead student,  Rilling wanted to see the district offer more Advanced Placement courses and girls sports.

“I thought we needed more sports in this town,” she says. “Kids needed something to do after school.”

She was one of the first members of West Hempstead’s Sports Council, along with James Mariano, who is also running for re-election next month, and Vincent Trocchia, who was appointed to fill Anthony Brita’s seat until the May 15 vote is held.

“We did a lot of great things,” she says, such as bringing more sports into the schools and purchasing a score board at the high school. “The Sports Council has unified the community.”

Rilling also played a part in the opening of the Kindergarten center at Chestnut, the addition of EMT courses, which were recently cut due to budget constraints, and the implementation of SmartBoards into the classrooms.

“When I first started on the board in 1994, there wasn't much technology at all … but look at what we have now,” she added.

Another highlight of her tenure, thus far, on the board, Rilling says, was the hiring of Superintendent John Hogan.

“He is wonderful,” Rilling said of Hogan, describing him as a big “motivator” in the district.

Working in collaboration with a total of 13 other trustees during the past 18 years, Rilling says, “We did a lot of good things, and the more we accomplished, the more I was motivated to see that we do more to get the kids where they need to be … into a good college.”

For Rilling, who received her B.A. and Master’s from SUNY Albany and put in 38 years of teaching before she retired, the school board has become a second “career.” During that time, she’s attended countless school meetings, building inspections, budget workshops, conferences, games and concerts, and she’s never missed a single graduation. She also served on first education committee for the West Hempstead Civic Association, and continues to dedicate her time to the West Hempstead Scholarship Fund, St. Thomas the Apostle Church, where she volunteers as a eucharistic minister, and the American Association of University Women.

“In short,” says Rilling, “I’m running for a simple reason: I can not and will not give up on our school district.”

Rilling disagrees with her opponent and others who say that the West Hempstead schools are not as good as they were in the past.

“They are better,” she stated. “Our students do get recognition for science, and the arts … they do learn and are accepted into good colleges.”

While some look down upon the number of West Hempstead graduates who attend Nassau County Community College, Rilling says parents are “fortunate” to have N.C.C., because it “gives students a good education at an affordable price.”

That said, Rilling does think that the school district needs to continue to work on raising student achievement, including state test scores.

“I’m not a big fan of state testing, but it’s here so we have to deal with it, as do other districts. We just need to buckle down and get the scores up,” she says.

She thinks that if everyone bought into her own personal motto, “Aspire Higher,” there’d be a vast improvement in the quality education.

Going forward, she’d also like to be a part of the the board recently formed to address the empty building space at Chestnut and the soon-to-be vacant Eagle Avenue School.

“I toured Eagle Avenue the other day and it’s a wonderful building,” she says. “We really need to find someone to occupy it.” 

“West Hempstead is a vibrant school district with dedicated teachers and administrators, who are working very hard to see that the goals the board has developed are being implemented,” Rilling states. “I’m proud to have been part of it all and hope to serve the community for another term.”

The West Hempstead school board and budget elections will take place at on May 15 between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. For more candidate profiles and related news, click here.