Superintendent search takes next step

The Board of Education and Baldwin residents got an idea of who the community would like to have as its next district superintendent during a presentation on May 13.

Dr. Bob Roelle, a consultant for Hazard, Young Attea & Associates, an executive search firm that the board hired in April to lead its search, gave a presentation last week to sum up what the community is looking for. Roelle, a former superintendent in the Ossining and Katonah-Lewisboro school districts, and Debbie Raizes a former school board trustee in Scarsdale, interviewed more than 70 people in recent weeks to get their thoughts on the matter.

Also, 122 people responded to an online survey on the district’s website. Roelle said that number is unusually low for a district on Baldwin’s size.

Each meeting had the same agenda, touching on the perceived strengths of the district, challenges it faces and the characteristics people would like to see in the next superintendent.

According to Roelle, the school community feels Baldwin’s strengths include its diversity, good faculty and staff, solid arts, music and athletics and a well-rounded academic program.

The challenges to address included uniting the Board of Education, budgetary issues and low morale within the district. Roelle said it’s a tough time for public education. “These are very, very challenging times for school boards and school superintendents anywhere you go in the country,” he said.

He added that the challenges ahead would require a truly devoted superintendent to lead the way. “You need strong leadership at the Board of Education level and at the superintendent level,” he said.

Preferred characteristics in the next superintendent include a strong leader with a vision, a person who is visible in the community, superintendent or central administration experience and a person who is both fiscally and politically savvy.

The search firm has begun interviewing prospective candidates and will present five or six of the most qualified contenders to the board in June. The board will then conduct its own interviews and look to hire the district’s next leader before school starts in September.