The search for a new superintendent in the Bethlehem Central School District has begun. The district has hired consultants Castallo and Silky at $16,000 to assist with the search.
The new superintendent will replace Les Loomis, who will retire at the end of the school year.
We have a very elaborate effort to have as much community input as possible, said school board president James Lytle.
The district’s parent-teacher organizations, presidents council, teachers union and administrators will all participate in the search process.
`Nov. 29 is being considered as a day for a round of sessions with various stakeholders throughout the district,` said Lytle.
There will also be an open meeting for the community to participate in the superintendent search. What makes the district special and the challenges facing the district are two of the many questions the school board is reviewing as potential criteria for the search process.
`We will perform a profile of the district,` said Lytle.
Consultants William Silky and Lucy Martin will coordinate the superintendent search. Silky is a professor in the educational administration department at SUNY Oswego and the statewide coordinator of the Superintendent Development Program, a cooperative venture among SUNY Oswego, BOCES district superintendents and local superintendents.
Martin has been a teacher, reading specialist, administrator and superintendent of schools in rural and suburban school districts. In addition, she has been a member of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees for 20 years, having served for 10 years as president.
Lytle said the pool of eligible candidates who want to become superintendent has dropped over the years from an average of 100 applicants to somewhere around 25. The board prefers the candidates to have a doctorate degree and be able to live in the district. The expectation is to have a new superintendent picked by April of 2008.
`I think that date is doable,` said Loomis.
The search will include advertisements and announcements in various publications including Education Week, the monthly `Councilgram` of the state Superintendents Council and other trade journals.
The consultants have agreed that if a new superintendent is not hired by next September, they will continue to assist the district at no additional cost.
A number of former Bethlehem teachers and administrators have already moved on to various superintendent positions throughout the region.
Jon Hunter, a former high school principal, is now superintendent at Fairport. Theresa Snyder, who once worked as the Glenmont principal, is now deputy superintendent of Shenendehowa schools. Briggs McAndrews recently retired as superintendent of Niskayuna, and most recently, John McGuire, a former assistant superintendent, was hired as Guilderland’s superintendent.
`We really have concentrated hard on developing our own leaders in the district,` said Loomis.
Several current teachers and administrators in Bethlehem are expected to apply for the position when advertisements go out.“