Superintendent search given a 'personal touch'

WEBUTUCK — In finding a permanent district superintendent, members of the Webutuck Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE) explained that this search, unlike previous searches, was given a “personal touch� by asking former Interim Superintendent David Paciencia to take the lead.

At the March 22 Board of Education meeting, board President Dale Culver announced that Steven Schoonmaker was expected to become the new superintendent on July 1, the beginning of Webutuck’s  2010-11 school year.

It was incorrectly stated in last week’s brief article announcing the board’s decision that Webutuck has been led by two interim superintendents since Richard Johns left the district on June 30, 2009. In fact, it has had three. Former Webutuck and Amenia elementary schools principal Michael O’Neil filled that role for three weeks starting at the end of July, David Paciencia did so from August until the end of December, and Lee Bordick served from Jan. 1 of this year up to the present.

Each superintendent has faced a different district climate when stepping into office, and as Culver pointed out last week, O’Neil, arriving at the district in the aftermath of Johns leaving, was not given an easy assignment.

“Of all the people involved, he had the most dirt to deal with,� Culver said. “It was really him who got everything flowing.�

In a sense, Schoonmaker will be the proper successor to Johns. O’Neil knew coming into the position that his role, which although important, would be brief. And Paciencia, who had to unexpectedly step down in his capacity as superintendent halfway through the year because of health issues, was only planning on staying with the district for the 2009-10 school year. The same goes for Bordick. All three have, in the back of their minds, been aware of their role in transitioning the district from John’s tenure on to the next superintendent.

After Johns’ departure, which was followed by a number of significant staff changes, Culver explained that the board members would have worked as long as they had to in order to find the right person for what the district hopes is a long-term position.

“I had other interims lined up,� Culver explained. “We were not going to just settle [for anyone].�

That goal, to find the best superintendent for Webutuck possible, meant changing the search process altogether. For school districts across the state, Culver said that it’s a fairly normal process to work with the district’s corresponding BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services)  superintendent (John Pennoyer fills that position in Dutchess County), who serves as liaison to the search. Webutuck has used BOCES for the last few searches, most recently Johns.

“We knew we were the smallest school [in the county] and that [Pennoyer] had a large workload to deal with,� Culver said. “Webutuck is at a critical juncture, and that’s required us to be extremely diligent in finding a new superintendent. It’s a unique opportunity to move the district forward, and we wanted singular focus.�

That singular focus was Paciencia, who while unable to carry the workload associated with the superintendent’s position was asked to stay with the district and act as liaison to the search process.

That process has lasted several months. Paciencia, who was reached last week by telephone, explained his approach to advertising for the position. As a result, every school district in the state received a Webutuck pamphlet and the vacancy was also advertised on the Web sites for the New York State Council of School Superintendents and the New York State School Boards Association, among others.

A number of focus forums were held for the Webutuck community, including parents, staff, administrators and anyone else who had ideas about the caliber and character of the ideal Webutuck superintendent.

More than 20 potential candidates expressed interest in the position, which Paciencia said “is a large number for this day and age,â€� and he  began checking the references of each of the applicants.

Paciencia sifted through the candidates, looking for a variety of skills and expertise that would apply to any school district searching for a new superintendent, as well as criteria specific to Webutuck.

“We wanted people who really understood we were a rural district,� he said. “We wanted someone who was going to come here and stay. Rural districts are great, but you wear a lot of hats and there is a definite sense of community. [The right candidate] had to be someone who wasn’t just applying for jobs all over the state.�

The search continued to narrow until Paciencia was left with five candidates that he felt would be right for the job. Those candidates were brought in to meet with committee groups, staff and administrators.

“I made it clear from the start that I wouldn’t be picking the person,� Paciencia explained. “[The Board of Education] is really picking an eighth board member, one who doesn’t vote but is a team member.�

The board was much more involved in this search than previous ones, explained Trustee John Perotti, who has served on the board for 30 years and by his count has now been involved with five superintendant searches, not counting O’Neil, Paciencia or Bordick.

“The difference was that in this case we had five excellent candidates,� Perotti said last week, who said this search has undoubtably been the best. The search was “more professional, and the quality of the candidates was just head and shoulders above what we’d seen before,� he said.

Perotti added that having Paciencia as liaison gave the search “a personal touch,� and said that with other searches, the board often never even saw the resumes for the candidates until there were only two or three left. This time around, the board was examining the candidates when there was still a field of 10 remaining.

“It’s really and truly been a pleasure to work with the board through this process,� Paciencia said. “Rarely have I heard of a board that took this particular function and took it so seriously. They were engaged from day one right through the last day. I couldn’t have asked for better cooperation, especially in terms of the board president.�

Culver returned the compliment, saying it was Paciencia’s “caliber and reputation, as well as a belief in Webutuck and the Board of Education,� that brought the best candidates for the district to the district.

The board president also acknowledged that having so many qualified candidates, it was a very tough decision to choose the finalist.

The decision to choose Schoonmaker was unanimous, Culver said, but that’s not to put down the other finalists. Schoonmaker is the best superintendent to lead Webutuck forward in its current state, he stressed, and that was among the most important criteria in choosing a new head of administration.

Culver also stressed the importance of the roles Paciencia and Bordick played throughout the process.

“Lee Bordick is as fine a superintendent as I’ve ever met,� Culver said, “and he and Dave are of the same caliber. Both are going to work to ensure a seamless transition for Mr. Schoonmaker.�

But while the new superintendent will be settling into a long-term role that should calm a school district that’s had the dust kicked up over the past year, there might be a few more district changes on the horizon.

“The board has a second phase of administrative reconfiguration,� Culver concluded without elaborating further, “to be worked on at a later date.�

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