Board recognizes Oceanside Counseling Center; Mount Sinai South Nassau says services will continue while district reclaims space

At the Feb. 12 meeting the Oceanside Union Free School District publicly thanked staff from the Oceanside Counseling Center and Mount Sinai South Nassau for more than 30 years of collaboration providing behavioral-health services to students and families.

“We really do appreciate our partnership,” Andrew Triello, vice president of facilities for Mount Sinai South Nassau, said as hospital representatives introduced themselves. Laura Bridal, vice president of operations at Mount Sinai South Nassau, and Michelle Lucero, administrative director of behavioral health, also spoke at the meeting and accepted a plaque from the district recognizing the counseling center’s long service.

District officials said that, for "a whole host of reasons," the services now provided at the Counseling Center will be available at alternate venues across the South Shore and that the district will take over the current space. "We do have a plan for that, but it will require some funding, and some time, and some thoughtfulness," a district speaker said when announcing the plaque dated 02/12/2025.

Speakers emphasized the counseling center’s quiet, long-term role in supporting the community and noted the district’s appreciation for the partnership. Mount Sinai South Nassau staff thanked the district for hosting the center "for 33 years at the Oceanside Counseling Center at this location," and the board invited representatives to a photo with the plaque.

The board’s remarks were framed as recognition rather than a policy vote; district staff said the district will need to perform work on the space before it becomes usable instructional space and that the timeline and funding sources were still to be determined at the meeting.