Sewanhaka hosts superintendent search meeting

The Sewanhaka Central High School District held a search meeting on Thursday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium of the Sewanhaka High School, to gather ideas from district residents about the district’s new superintendent. Warren Meierdiercks, who has been the district’s superintendent for the past five years, announced in December that he will be retiring on June 30, and the district has since been working to find a resident- and administration-approved replacement.

The March 10 public meeting gave community residents an opportunity to have their voices and opinions heard, regarding the district's next superintendent. However, only a little more than a handful of residents from the district — which includes approximately 135,000 people from four communities — attended the event.

Among the concerns expressed by those in attendance were hiring a superintendent who can think “outside-of-the-box,” someone who is business-savvy, and someone who is a leader, and can discern positive and negative influences by his or her Board of Education.

Jean Fichtl, president of Sewanhaka's Board of Education, said the district has run advertisements for the position in The New York Times. The advertisement states that the position will pay a “regionally competitive" salary. The average salary for Nassau County superintendents is approximately $235,000.

According to the district, nearly 40 applications have currently been received, and no applications from employees within the district have been submitted. The position’s required credentials — which include a bachelor’s degree, 60 semester hours in graduate school work in education, three years of educational experience and passage of a state-mandated test — have not yet been reviewed for the 40 applications received by the district. No one is currently “on the radar” for the superintendent position, according to the district.

Those with comments and/or recommendations regarding candidates for the position can write the district at: leadschools@aol.com.