Few Brewster Residents Participate in Superintendent Search Meeting
The process of finding a new superintendent for the Brewster School District continued last week with three meetings in which the public’s input was sought.
The first meeting was conducted at the Henry H. Wells Middle School on April 6.
Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES is assisting the district with the search process. BOCES Assistant Superintendents John McCarthy and Lynn Allen conducted the April 6 meeting. The board of education is seeking to hire the new superintendent by about July 19.
According to the district’s timeline, advertisements and recruitment brochures are scheduled to be sent out at the end of April. Allen noted that the board of education is proposing to pay the new school head an annual salary of $220,000.
Though only three residents, Christine Zirkelbach, Robert Spitz and Bob Cullen, attended the first meeting last week, they had much to say about the district and the qualities they wanted in the person who will replace the departing Superintendent Timothy Conway.
Cullen, a Southeast councilman, said the new superintendent should be “someone with a clear vision” of where the district should go.
The new superintendent should be an innovator who also has the ability to “think outside the box,” Cullen said.
Cullen added the new superintendent should seek to sell the now vacant site of the former Garden Street School to get the property back on the tax rolls.
Zirkelbach said the new superintendent would need to deal with the increasing number of special education students and also be able to provide services to many students who do not speak English as their first language.
Spitz said the new superintendent would find that “we have a great community” living in the Brewster district. Zirkelbach said though parents attend their children’s school events, the district needs to encourage more residents to come to board of education meetings.
Zirkelbach said the new superintendent should support the popular Junior ROTC program in the district. “It’s more of a leadership program” than a military program, she said.
Cullen said the new superintendent should fit in with the Putnam County community, which is politically conservative. “I don’t want some crazy socialist” to be the next leader of the district, he said. Spitz said a political moderate could fit in with the local community. Zirkelbach said despite the conservative reputation of the local area, district students are active members of GLADD, an organization that fights defamation against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
McCarthy asked the residents about the programs currently being offered in the district. Zirkelbach said the district provides several arts and sports programs for its students. There are many options for students, Spitz added.
Zirkelbach asked the BOCES representatives what the school board would do if they do not find whom they feel is the right superintendent candidate by July 19. Allen said the board of education would extend the date if it felt it needed more time to find the right person.
To fill out the resident superintendent search survey visit the school district’s website at brewsterschools.org.
