Public Pleas to Retain Schools Superintendent Fall on Deaf Ears
The Peekskill community came out in full force last week to urge the Board of Education not to accept the resignation of beloved Superintendent of School Dr. David Fine.
Parents, teachers, students and others pleaded with trustees for more than 90 minutes not to let Fine walk away from the district where his commitment to the education and well-being of students as a superintendent, assistant superintendent of secondary education and middle school principal for the last nine years was second to none.
“Dr. Fine pioneered a transformation of our schools,” said Margery Rossi, vice president of the Peekskill School District Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). “We are grateful to have worked so closely with such a courageous leader.”
“Dr. Fine opened up the district to the whole community,” said Ramon Fernandez, parent of a senior daughter at Peekskill High School. “In his short time he changed the view for the district.”
The well-liked Fine, who officially took over leading the district on July 1, 2015, issued a short letter to the Board of Education that was publicly released March 31, stating he was resigning from his $230,000 position.
“It has been an honor to have served the Peekskill community the last nine years,” stated Fine. “It is a position into which I have placed my heart and soul,” he stated. “I thank the board for the opportunity and wish everyone all the best. However, at this point I must reassess my priorities and make a change so that I can provide some needed focus on my personal life and family.”
In an email to district staff on March 30, according to a statement posted on the district’s website by the Board of Education, Fine further mentioned his need to “regroup” and cited his “health” as another reason for his sudden departure.
Several speakers maintained it was out of character for Fine to leave anything unfinished and demanded answers from the Board of Education, which steadfastly explained it was prohibited from discussing personnel matters in public.
“I have never known Dr. Fine to be a quitter. He’s a fighter,” asserted Pamela McNair Means, mother of four children in the district. “I feel there’s more to it. I want it to be investigated. We want to know as a community what’s really going on.”
Lauren Brady, a 2003 Peekskill High School graduate and administrative coordinator with the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce, also raised some questions.
“To have somebody, who has been committed beyond anything for our community, in one day to be gone who would never let his students down puts fear in all of us,” Brady said. “Dr. Fine has been the first real community leader who has taken our school district and our community and mended those fences.”
Others pointed out the constant change in leadership in the district, with four superintendents and 10 high school principals in the last decade.
“Consistency is something that we need here,” said Thomas Douglin, a science teacher in the district, who credited Fine with turning the district in the right direction. “Don’t let us lose such a precious resource that I’m sure other districts would be happy to snatch up.”
A spokesperson for the Yorktown School District, which is currently conducting a search to replace retiring Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Napolitano, refuted a report from a community source that Fine was a leading candidate for that job.
Peekskill Councilman Andre Rainey called Fine’s work ethic “admirable and contagious.”
“Your contribution to the city cannot be underestimated,” Rainey said. “You have that Obama effect. That’s the power and influence that you carry.”
Even Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli, who was appointed as acting superintendent until the end of the school year, a role he has performed on two previous occasions, felt compelled to speak on Fine’s behalf and try to put the community at ease.
‘I’m deeply moved by what I’ve heard here tonight,” said Licopoli, who was superintendent when Fine was granted tenure as principal. “In Peekskill, our kids need an equal education. David was part of a collaboration, a team, that developed this vision. Whoever is your new superintendent needs to be that special person. The next person needs to be a community-based person.”
Following the community’s turn at the mike, the Board of Education voted unanimously, with regret, to formally accept Fine’s resignation, which is effective June 30, as Fine will be using his accumulated vacation and sick leave time to cover his paid leave of absence.
“We are very appreciative of all the work Dr. Fine has done for the district,” said board President Lisa Aspinall-Kellawon. “Everything we have done has been with our children in mind. We’ve weighed all of our options. We’ve listened. I’m sure Dr. Fine would be moved to know how loved he was, and is, and how many lives he has touched and propelled forward to a better life.”
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/
