Serving Roslyn, East Hills, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Heights, Old Westbury and North Hills
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Friday, October 5, 2018
Vol. 6, No. 40
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SCHOOLS & EDUCATION
ROSLYN WOMAN TOWN UNVEILS COMPETES ON ‘JEOPARDY’ $105.72M BUDGET
PAGES 33-48
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School scandal gets Hollywood star treatment Hugh Jackman to headline film produced by Roslyn High alum BY T E R I W EST A Roslyn High School alumnus who is a Hollywood screenwriter is producing a film about the early 2000s Roslyn Public Schools corruption scandal that stars Hugh Jackman as the embezzling Superintendent Frank Tassone, according to Variety. The film, written by Mike Makowsky and called “Bad Education,” has begun production in New York and, according to Newsday, is slated for a 2019 release. The team plans to film in Long Island, according to Newsday. The cast also features Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Geraldine Viswanathan (“Blockers”), according to Variety. Makowsky is producing alongside Fred Berger (“La La Land”), Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev and Oren Moverman. Cory Finley (“Thoroughbreds”) is directing. “It was a story that I’d always
been fascinated with, and at a certain point it felt like it would be exciting to try to write it down on paper,” Makoswky said in an April interview with The Blognonian, a student publication at Brown University, his alma mater. “It’s crazy because you don’t necessarily think that the stuff that you’re interested in – the esoterica about your hometown – is going to translate to anything bigger.” Tassone was sentenced to prison in 2006 for embezzling millions of dollars of school funds and using them for personal expenses, including vacations and gambling. At least 29 people participated in the scheme that took $11.2 million from the schools, according to NBC. News reports from the time detail how Tassone had gained the trust and respect of Roslyn residents during his tenure, leaving them dumbfounded and betrayed by the person the state discovered he was. Continued on Page 66
PHOTO BY TERI WEST
Paul Pedranghelu (left) calls District 13 residents to encourage them to vote for Charles Lavine while Jared Goerke assembles lawn signs.
College students manage assemblyman’s campaign BY T E R I W EST Twenty-year-olds Jared Goerke and Paul Pedranghelu are spending their Friday afternoons at a gutted out deli in Plainview. They have business to do there. It’s where they’re running an assemblyman’s campaign. Goerke, the campaign manager, and field managers Pedranghelu and Sydney Morris, also 20, are the entirety of state Assemblyman Charles
Lavine’s re-election campaign staff. “It’s always a fun conversation when somebody asks, ‘Oh, what do you do?’” Goerke said. “When I tell them, their jaws drop.” Both he and Lavine describe Goerke’s hiring as a very simple process, though Goerke was considerably more shocked by it than his boss. Goerke set up a meeting with Lavine after interning for County Executive Laura Cur-
ran, hoping to get involved in Lavine’s re-election campaign. Lavine represents the 13th Assembly District, which includes parts of Roslyn. They met, Lavine saw a dedicated, serious individual in Goerke, and offered him the job. Goerke is still confused about how Lavine made that decision. "“I am able to size up very quickly the capacities of people who have an interest in this Continued on Page 66
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