The average tenure of a school superintendent is three and a half years. Jim Schultz, superintendent of the Burnt Hills Ballston Lake School District has more than doubled that, holding his position for eight years.
The district is now in the final stages of searching for a new super intendent to replace Schultz when he retires at the end of this school year – at which point he’ll have had 41 years with the district.
Long runs as superintendent at BH-BL are not new. According to Christy Multer, public relations officer for the district, those who held the position prior to Schultz had runs of 10 years or more, and that history is one of the factors playing in to a decision on who will be the next one.
The search is being run by Capital Region BOCES and the district’s Board of education.
“We’re looking for someone to make a long-term commitment and not looking for them to use BH-BL as a stepping stone. It could be, but questions centered around the long-term goals,” said Dr. Charles Dedrick, superintendent of Capital Region BOCES.
The list of candidates has been narrowed down to three: Dr. Patrick Darfler-Sweeney, superintendent of the Hunter-Tannersville School District; John McDonald, Jr., superintendent of the Ticonderoga School District; and Patrick McGrath, assistant superintendent of the Mohonasen School District.
Schultz’s run may not have been as long as some of his predecessors, but his long history at the district means he’s been everywhere. He is Burnt Hills born, taught English and Latin and was assistant superintendent. There have only been five superintendents in BH-BL history, or since 1938.
“He is extremely well respected and (his retiring) will be a big loss for the region. We’re not looking for someone to fill his shoes, but to take the district into the future,” said Dedrick.
Part of that will be in addressing new technologies, and the new superintendent must be able to bring the district forward via a new model in learning, according to Dedrick.
“Kids are less inclined to use technology in class and more inclined to use it outside of the classroom. There will be a proliferation of technology use in the classrooms and it’s no longer the case where teachers are providing that but helping the students to uncover the possibilities,” he said.
Dedrickalso said balance is key to the role of superintendent, saying, “Certain thing sare easy to leave off of the calendar, but are good to do. Like going to the elementary school, and planning on one or two days per week visiting an elementary school and actually being in the schools.”
Multer says the process for the search began shortly after Shultz’s announcement in September 2011 that he would retire. On average, she said that the process takes five to six months to complete.
“The board looked at how to fill the opening and who would facilitate the search for them. They didn’t want to do it quickly and they really wanted to bring the community into the process,” said Multer.
“I really credit the board, they wanted and open and transparent process, and they took a lot of community input during the process. I tell other districts to look at BH-BL, to see an open process, and to look to it as a model,” said Dedrick.
It is common for Capital Region BOCES to head superintendent searches. Dederick has led efforts in Schenectady and Bethlehem.
A total of 29 applications for the position were submitted, and Dedrick and board members read through each one.
“The process is time consuming. The number of candidates has increased and people are looking here to the Capital District. We have good communities, good schools and things are happening here, it’s a hotbed,” said Dedrick.
From there, 15 of the applicants were called in for interviews by teams of district stakeholders, according to Multer.
“We had the teacher’s association, administrative staff, support staff, all five PTAs, members from the community at large, volunteers and high school students involved,” said Multer of the teams.
Once the final decision is made as to who will be the next superintendent, there is still work to be done on his or her contract, which takes about two weeks. On April 3, at the school board meeting, final discussions will be held and Shultz’s successor will be announced in early April after that meeting.
