Gateway School Board elects new president, vice president

The Gateway School Board of Directors elected a new board president and vice president during its Dec. 1 reorganizational meeting.

Brian Goppman will serve as the board’s president. He replaces Mary Beth Cirucci, who held the position for two years. Valerie Warning will serve as vice president, replacing Rick McIntyre. He held the role for two years.

Goppman, 34, a health insurance specialist with Option Care and a Garden City Drive resident, was first elected to the school board in 2017.

“I’m really excited to be able to take on this role,” Goppman said. “You know, with this virus and climate, it’s really posed a big challenge. But our leadership in the past has stepped up, I intend to do the same.”

He hearkened the school district’s motto: Nobody beats a Gator.

“In regards to this virus, we’re not going to let it beat us either,” he said.

He said his goals as president involve getting the students back into school five days per week and to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money.

Warning was first elected in 2015 after working for the district as a paraprofessional in the special-education department for 15 years.

The board also set its meeting dates for 2021. For the most part, the board will meet for an agenda-setting meeting the second Tuesday of each month, followed by a regular meeting on the third Tuesday.

The board will meet for regular meetings on May 19 (a Wednesday) and Sept. 20 (a Monday), because of scheduling conflicts. June’s agenda-setting meeting will be June 7, a Monday.