Candidates galore for Valley Stream superintendent job

District 30 received 78 applications from educators seeking to become the superintendent of the Valley Stream elementary school system.

Of those, 33 met the qualifications for the job set by the Board of Education. Board members met in executive session following their June 25 meeting and narrowed that group down to six candidates.

The board is interviewing those six educators this week. Board members will then select three finalists, who will come in for a second interview with a community advisory committee made up of parents, teachers, administrators and staff members. The committee will be led by the district’s technology director, Ryan Meloni.

Board Trustee Elise Antonelli said she was surprised by the large number of applications. District 30’s last superintendent search, in 2008, which led to the hiring of Dr. Elaine Kanas, attracted 60 applicants.

Kanas is leaving at the end of July to become the superintendent of the Old Westbury-based East Williston School District.

Antonelli said that many of the 78 people who applied have experience as superintendents, and that the district received inquiries from several current superintendents in others states. Most of the rest of the candidates are assistant superintendents in other districts on Long Island, she explained, and there is at least one candidate from within the Valley Stream district.

Despite the quality of the candidates, selecting the six top among them was fairly easy, Antonelli said. Prior to the board’s discussion on June 25, each board member was asked to review all of the applications on their own and come up with their top six choices. All of the trustees agreed on four people, she said, which reduced the discussion to choosing the other two. She added that board members are fairly united on what they are looking for in the next superintendent.

Community input also played a large role in selecting the six candidates. Public forums were held on June 14 and 15, and parents were also invited to fill out online surveys. “As I was going through the applications,” Antonelli said, “I kept in mind all of the things that were on the surveys.”