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District 13 chooses next superintendent

Board selects tech-savy Queens native to succeed Robb-Fund

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The District 13 Board of Education voted unanimously on April 28 to hire a replacement for Superintendent Adrienne Robb-Fund, who will retire at the close of the school year. Trustees selected Constance Evelyn, a superintendent currently serving in the Auburn School District, the largest of upstate Cayuga County’s eight school districts.

She will take over as District 13’s superintendent on July 1.

Robb-Fund, who began her tenure in the position in 2010, said she was confident Evelyn was a good choice for the district.

“I really do think she is going to do an excellent job,” she said. “She is incredibly knowledgeable about technology and what’s coming next. Between that and her previous experience as a superintendent, I think she will be able to lead the district to a promising future. I look forward to working closely with her during the transition process.”

Evelyn was given a three-year contract, and will be paid $225,000 per year. Before beginning her term as Auburn’s superintendent in 2012, she was the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Ithaca City School District, and a middle school principal in the Oswego City School District. She began her career as a special education teacher in the Bronx. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Staten Island and two master’s degrees, one in special education and one in supervision and administration, both from Long Island University.

She was also a member of the Smart Schools Bond Act Commission, a three-person panel selected by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014. The panel led a research effort into how best to expand technology-enabled learning in classrooms across the state, and published a report in 2014. Evelyn was chosen because of her efforts to increase the use of technology in the Auburn schools, particularly the use of wireless and broadband Internet services, the governor’s office said at the time of her appointment.

Evelyn was chosen from a pool of 54 candidates who were interviewed for District 13’s top spot. The list was narrowed down to four finalists. The hiring process was a long and thoughtful one, according to Trustee Frank Chiachiere.

“This was no easy task,” he said. “We started our search as soon as we received Dr. Robb-Fund’s resignation for the purpose of retirement. We were fortunate to find a very strong pool of candidates, and from that we took four finalists to look at closely. Ms. Evelyn showed herself to be the best of those candidates.”

Board President Joseph DiSibio was not at the meeting, but said in a statement that he made the search for a new superintendent his top priority, and that he was “thrilled” with the result it yielded.

Board Vice President Toni Pomerantz said that Evelyn’s experience as a superintendent set her apart from the others considered for the job.

“Her clear abilities and qualities as a leader really convinced us she was going to do a great job,” Pomerantz said. “Her time as the head of another district was a real positive. It showed us that she knew what it takes to do well in this position.”

District 13 partnered with School Leadership LLC, a professional consulting firm, to conduct the search. Dr. Charles Fowler, the company’s president, said the search began with a survey sent to residents that asked them to identify what qualities they most wanted to see in their new superintendent. Board members and administrators also met with teachers, parents and residents about the hiring process.

Pomerantz said input from the community played an important role in the search.

“We really took everything we learned from that survey and those meetings to heart,” she said. “I know that our board members spent lots of time looking over those details when it came time to choose a new superintendent.”

Those qualifications were then used to advertise the position with organizations such as the American Association of School Administrators and the Superintendents Association, as well as trade publications such as Education Week, Fowler said.

“We looked over the hundreds of applications we received, and conducted interviews with 54 candidates, all of whom were very qualified,” Fowler said, pointing out that 46 of the candidates were from New York, and 37 had experience as either a superintendent or assistant superintendent. “We made our recommendations to the Board of Education, and the board whittled down to four finalists, and then finally Ms. Evelyn, who is a really great educator and administrator.”

Evelyn, who was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, said she was excited to return downstate and looked forward to beginning the new position. She said that much of her first few months will be focused on working with members of the community to learn as much as possible about the district.

“Superintendents are obviously very busy, but we really should be busy because we’re working with our community, with parents and teachers, on how to best prepare our students for their future,” she said. “I think it’s important to always be listening and always be learning … I’m looking forward to working with the board, to help move their strategic plan forward and make District 13 the best it could be.”