BOE hosts community forum in superintendent search

“There is some community healing that needs to happen here.””

Laura Gillen, former TOwn Supervisor and RVC parent.

A few dozen Rockville Centre residents spent Monday night giving feedback to representatives from School Leadership LLC in their search for a new superintendent after the departure of June Chang earlier this year.

The meeting continued the early steps in the search, gathering information through a survey and at in-person meetings to identify the personal and professional qualities and experiences that parents desire in the new leader of the school district.

School Leadership LLC representatives Dr. Kathy Weiss and Dr. Frank Chiachiere led the discussion on Monday night in the South Side High School auditorium. Members of the Board of Education was not in attendance, but according to the two search firm representatives, they will be fully briefed on the responses. Both Weiss and Chiachiere have extensive experience with searches like this one. The firm is currently engaged in two other searches in New York and touted that 96 percent of the candidates they choose go on to be extended after the end of their three-year deal.

On the night, parents agreed that the next superintendent should be able to make collaborative decisions and be able to admit their blind spots. One of the consistent worries was that declining rankings in the state could push real estate values down, causing a few in the crowd to call for an increased focus on improving test scores.

Others were more focused on making the district as welcoming a place to everyone as possible. The RVC Diversity and Inclusion Council also sent members of the board of education a letter outlining their priorities for the next superintendent.

“We feel it is imperative our new superintendent possess a strong commitment to a multicultural and inclusive education for all students,” the letter reads.

Among the policy suggestions in the letter is trying to diversify the faculty further, reviewing and updating the curriculum, making anti-bias training mandatory for teachers and administrators, ensure that discipline is doled out equitably along racial lines, and adopting an inclusivity model for classroom and school-sponsored events.

Laura Gillen, former Town of Hempstead supervisor, has two children in the school district and gave her feedback on what she wants in a candidate and the early results from the search firm.

“I think we need a really strong leader,” Gillen said. “There’s a lot of challenges. We’re still dealing with the aftermath of Covid, you have mental health challenges and there is some community healing that needs to happen here.” Gillen added that she was pleased with the community involvement through the meeting and online survey in the early stages of the search.

The online survey sent out to parents over the past couple of weeks, which is due by Nov. 15, asked them what job experiences they hoped the candidates would have and what the single most important quality they think the next superintendent should possess.

The next step in the search is expected to come during the Dec. 9 school board meeting, where the board is anticipated to approve the specifications for the new superintendent based on feedback and guidance from the firm.