Hochreiter Takes Leave of Absence as Hen Hud Superintendent
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While students, teachers and staff in the Hendrick Hudson School District were on winter break last week, Superintendent of Schools Joseph Hochreiter issued a statement to the community that he was taking a leave of absence for an unspecified length of time.
Hochreiter, who has led the district since July 2013, informed the school community that the Board of Education had granted his request to take time off, effective Feb. 27.
“I appreciate your understanding and look forward to the continued good work in our school community,” Hochreiter stated.
Taking over his duties as Acting Superintendent will be Dr. Dennis Lauro, who served as Superintendent of Schools in the Pelham School District from 2008 to 2012 before retiring. He returned to that district as an Acting Superintendent in Dec. 2021.
“Dr. Lauro brings experience as a former superintendent to the district and I hope you will all be well served by his filling in for me during my leave,” Hochreiter stated.
Hochreiter did not return a text from Examiner Media seeking further information on his unexpected departure.
Prior to joining Hendrick Hudson, Hochreiter served as superintendent of schools in the Elmira School District for eight years.
Hochreiter began his public education career as a special education teacher in social studies in Rochester and later served as a middle school assistant principal and a high school principal. He has published numerous articles on educational leadership and has been a presenter at many national conferences.
In recent years at Hendrick Hudson, Hochreiter has had his hands full with the loss of revenue from the closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plants and the introduction of the Princeton Plan this year.
The Board of Education will have its first meeting with Lauro at the helm on March 1.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
