M-W School Board narrows field for superintendent

Central Valley - The Monroe-Woodbury School Board could name a new schools superintendent as early as next week, and perhaps no later than the end of the month. The last of the three finalists was scheduled to meet Friday with school administrators and five focus groups, said school Board President Claire Perez. The new superintendent will succeed Frank Moscati, who retired July 31 after a year at the helm of the school district with more than 7,500 students and 1,200 employees that’s operating on an austerity budget of $117 million. Moscati succeeded Terrence Olivo, who had led the district for 15 years. Veteran educator and administrator John C. Canzoneri is the acting superintendent, but he’s told the school board he plans to step down by the beginning of January. The job carries a salary of up to $185,000; the benefits package does not include a vehicle, Perez said. The first of the three finalists was Edward Q. Seto, the local instructional superintendent for New York City’s Region 7 School District, which includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. Earlier this week, Port Jervis school superintendent Joseph A. DiLorenzo met with focus groups representing non-union employees and administrators; CSEA members; teachers; administrators and principals; and a group that includes the heads of the various school Parent-Teacher Organizations as well as student council members from the junior and senior classes. The name of the last finalist will be released Friday. The board initially received 19 queries about the job; that was narrowed to nine, then to four and finally to three. Each candidate is judged for his or her abilities in academics, finance, budget and public relations. What’s different about the search this time around is that the district is being assistant by Dr. Robert J. Hanna, the Orange-Ulster BOCES district superintendent, as well as Canzoneri, who has moderated the hour-long focus groups. Eighteen months ago, a consultant was hired. The school board president described the pool of candidates as “shallow” when compared to 20-25 years ago when a district might receive as many as 50-75 applicants. She noted that pool is smaller today because many of the men and women who hold the job elsewhere in New York will retired in the next several years. Salaries offered by districts in Rockland and Nassau counties also are higher by tens of thousands of dollars, she said. Perez said the board did look at the resumes of some assistant superintendents, but narrowed the field to those people who have held the top job in a district. “Superintendent is a tough job,” Perez said. “You live with the whims of a school board of five, seven or nine members. It’s a 24/7 job. And more and more, a good superintendent must be articulate and good at public relations to explain to people the archaic rules of (New York) state education funding formulas.” And then there’s test scores. “There’s the increasing demand for testing,” Perez said. “But do you teach to the test, or to you encourage innovative approaches that allow for thinking outside the test. “I know it sounds trite but we’re looking for someone who at the end of the day will do what’s best for the kid, who can answer did the kid come out ahead whatever the decision,” said Perez, who has sat in on each focus group meeting. A new superintendent would be on board about two months after the decision is made. Whoever is chosen won’t have any union contracts to negotiate, nor any capital projects to push through. But the new schools chief will face the challenge of creating - and then selling - a budget that the public will approve. Taxpayers have rejected two out of the last three school spending plans. “That will be very important,” Perez said. “We cannot come through another austerity budget (next year) as intact and unscathed as we did this time around. That will be the number one priority.”