Chappaqua Central School District Begins Superintendent Search

The Chappaqua Central School District Board of Education has announced its first efforts to find a new superintendent, with public input a key element.

The board released the news in this statement.

The district has hired an outside group, School Leadership, LLC, to assist in the process. Dr. Charles Fowler, principal for School Leadership, will conduct a series of small meetings "with a variety of community groups, staff groups and individuals in order to solicit their input and report the results of those meetings to the Board," according to the statement.

These groups include district residents - with and without children in the schools - teachers, administrators and students. The meetings have not yet been scheduled. 

In addition, a large, open meeting will take place on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Horace Greeley High School. People who can't attend can voice their opinions in an online survey on the district's Web site.

"We value the community input," Jeffrey Mester, school board president, said in an interview. 

Mester explained that there will be community input in determining the most appropriate characteristics for a new superintendent. 

The district is trying to determine the characteristics of the ideal superintendent first, Mester said, then look and see if there are internal candidates who match.

The board has given itself until the end of May to determine whether or not to go with someone within the district. If the board chooses not to, it will start a wider search, leading to an interim superintendent for the following year, Mester said. 

Among the benefits of hiring someone internally, Mester said, are that an internal superintendent could take over at the end of the school year, not needing an interim and saving money on the search.

The school district is looking for a new superintendent due to the exit of David Fleishman, who is stepping down at the end of the school year. Fleishman is taking on the same position for the school system in Newton, Mass., close to his hometown of nearby Brookline.