BOE seeks public input through survey, forums
After more than 30 years holding various positions in the field of education Niskayuna Central School District Superintendent Kevin Baughman is deciding school may not only be out for summer, but possibly forever.
I am at a point where I am beyond the minimum retirement age, so I am looking at this point, said Baughman. `I am typically working extremely long weeks and looking to change the speed of my life.`
Baughman will be leaving the district after joining it in 2002. He held various administrative positions at other schools for 23 years before joining the Niskayuna Central School District.
The Board of Education is also inviting community feedback on what attributes are most desirable for the new superintendent through a survey, which ends Feb. 4, on the district’s
website
. The BOE is also planning four forums, which are scheduled for specific groups within the district but will be open for public attendance, to solicit input on priorities.
Baughman said it is just time for him to pass on the reins to someone else.
Being a superintendent, he said, means you always have to be ready to get the job done, no matter when you are needed.
`When you are a superintendent, you are 7 days a week, 24/7, on call,` said Baughman. `I think to not be on the clock all of the time would be a welcomed change for my family and to some lesser degree myself.`
He said he is looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren and doing some hobbies he hasn’t had as much time to do, such as fly fishing, playing golf and reading for pleasure. Although, he isn’t sure it will be the end of his working life. He said he might doing some consultant jobs or teach a class at a university.
`I don’t know that I am going to stop working,` he said. `The word retirement, I don’t know if it is the right world for any of us.`
While he plans to leave at the end of the school year, he said if the district does need him to stick around a little longer he would, but he doesn’t foresee any problems finding a replacement. The BOE is doing the search with an experienced outside consultant that has done over 100 searches, he said, and the interviewing process is planned to begin in the spring.
`The hope, of course, is that there will be somebody to take over the reins on July 1,` he said. `I am very confident the board and community will find an outstanding replacement.`
Baughman also shared some advice for whomever is hired to be the new superintendent: `Learn your community, understand the culture and the history, be objective, speak respectfully but frankly, be ready to make difficult and challenging decisions and finally I think listen and listen carefully to everyone.`
Before being contacted for the position in Niskayuna, he was a superintendent at Hudson Falls Central School District. He said Niskayuna was a bigger school district and it also gave him and his family new opportunities. He has also had two daughters graduate from the district and said they have both done well in part because of the opportunity they had in the district.
Although Baughman said he also learned a few things while being superintendent in the district.
`I’ve learned a tremendous amount about other people and myself,` he said. `I’ve learned, first off, that people have an incredible capacity to do good things. Secondly, trust your instincts.`
He said Niskayuna is a community that values and supports learning and his overall experience in the district has been positive.
`The parents and the students have been just a joy to work with,` he said. `You work with such dedicated people and such a supportive community there are just opportunities here for the development of our schools that you just don’t get in every place.`
He said he has no intention of leaving Niskayuna, because he is going to stay home, which is in the district.
`I am just going to be eternally grateful to the board and the community for this opportunity. This has been a dream come true in terms of the experience in the way I have been treated,` said Baughman. `I think we’ve enriched program opportunities for kids and we are very proud of that and I hope people will look back at this period of time at the school as a very successful time.`
The forum for the district’s leadership council, including directors, principals and other administrators, will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 12, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office, which will be followed by a forum for district support staff from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the same location.
The forum for K through 12 faculty will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 19 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Little Theatre at Niskayuna High School. The community forum for parents, students and members of the public will be held on the same evening of Jan. from 7 to 9 p.m. in the new Library/Media Center at Niskayuna High School.
Individuals with questions about the forums can contact Cindy Gagnon at the district office at 377-4666 ext. 50706 or by e-mail at [email protected].“