Plainedge Superintendent Edward Salina resigns; interim replacement appointed
Plainedge superintendent Edward Salina Jr. resigned during a meeting Friday night. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
Plainedge Superintendent Edward A. Salina Jr. resigned immediately, after 14 years on the job, the board of education announced Friday in simultaneously appointing an interim replacement.
In successive 7-0 votes at a board meeting, officials accepted the resignation of Salina, who became superintendent in 2011, and appointed as interim Superintendent Carol Muscarella.
When asked by Newsday, board president Joseph Beyrouty declined to say why Salina had left or how long, if at all, his exit had been in the works before the announcement on Friday.
"The official paperwork came to us on Friday, and that's all I'm gonna say about that," Beyrouty said.
He said Muscarella, a retired principal of the district's John H. West Elementary School, would not stay on a permanent basis.
"It was very clear that this is just a help-us-hold-down-the-fort-until-we-identify-a-new-superintendent," Beyrouty said, adding that a search would begin Monday.
At the meeting, Beyrouty recited a prepared statement from Salina that gave no explanation for the resignation.
"Although I will be stepping away from my role as superintendent, I will always remain a proud member of the Plainedge family," said the statement, read in a meeting lasting barely four minutes that was posted to YouTube.
Beyrouty referenced an agreement to accept the resignation but didn't describe its terms.
Neither Salina nor Muscarella returned calls or emails seeking comment.
Perry Fuchs, head of the Plainedge teachers' labor union, declined to comment but said he wishes Salina well.
Plainedge, whose district offices are in North Massapequa, had about 2,800 students in grades K-12 as of 2024, according to the state Education Department's data portal.
Salina began his career in New York City schools as a middle school and high school math teacher and went on to work as an administrator in the Roslyn, Shoreham-Wading River and Lindenhurst school districts, according to the Plainedge district website, where he was still listed Saturday afternoon as superintendent.
Muscarella, prior to retiring, had worked at West since 2001; before that she provided preschool speech and language pathology services in a private practice she ran from 1991 to 2001, according to a 2013 article in Newsday about her winning a Woman of Distinction Award from the local State Assembly district.
Salina, of Jericho, earlier this year was named New York State Superintendent of the Year by the New York State Association for Computers and Technology in Education in honor of his using "outstanding ways to improve education and the student learning experience," Newsday reported in April.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
