Who will be schools’ next superintendent?

For the third consecutive year, Baldwin will have a new superintendent when schools open in September. Superintendent James Scannell, who was hired last April, announced his retirement over the winter, and the Board of Education is in the process of searching for the district’s next leader.

On April 9, the board officially hired Hazard, Young Attea & Associates, an executive search firm, to lead the effort. The firm will be paid $18,500 for its services.

Board Vice President Mary Jo O’Hagan said that the firm was hired because it can cast a wide net for potential candidates. “The hiring of a superintendent is so critical to the success of the school district, and in fact the whole community,” she said, “that we really need to make the best match we possibly can.”

The board did not hire a search firm last year, O’Hagan said, because Scannell was a strong candidate who already had an administrative position in the district.

Two Hazard Young consultants, Debbie Raizes, a former school board trustee in Scarsdale, and Dr. Bob Roelle, a former superintendent in the Ossining and Katonah-Lewisboro school districts, are handling the search, and have been in Baldwin in recent weeks gathering feedback from residents, school employees and students. The firm held public forums on April 22 and 23, and met with other community stakeholders as well last week. “The goal is to get as much input as possible,” Raizes said.

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

Kristina Lozada, who has three children at Plaza Elementary School, said that the next district leader would have to handle diverse views within the community about the direction in which the district is headed. “A superintendent must be someone who can build bridges between opposing sides,” Lozada said. “He or she must be someone with very thick skin and clear convictions who will not wither in the face of obstacles.”