B.B. school board takes first steps in search for new superintendent

December 12, 2024 at 12:50 a.m.

What does the ideal Blind Brook superintendent look like?

That’s the question the Board of Education is hoping to answer prior to hiring a successor to Dr. Colin Byrne, who announced he will be retiring at the end of this school year on June 30, 2025.

To help find the answer to that question, the board has partnered with District Wise Search Consultants, a Long Island-based company, to assist with the administrative hiring process. The contract with the firm is for $27,000.

Board President Jeff Mensch said the decision to hire a private firm was to align with the general trend seen across other districts.

“A lot of other municipalities are moving towards using companies like this,” he said. “Rye and Tuckahoe are using search firms right now. It’s kind of become standard. I think it’s critical to work with a company because they have a lot of insight and connections that benefit this kind of search.”

According to the contract signed during a special meeting on Nov. 26, District Wise will spend the next two months developing a candidate profile based on data gathered from the Blind Brook community.

Representatives will meet with the board to discuss what they’re looking for in a prospective superintendent.

“Without speaking for the rest of the board, I know that I would like a doer, not a delegator,” Mensch said. “Because of the size of our district, we don’t have the staffing that really allows for that kind of thing. We need someone who gets their hands dirty.”

Board Vice President Samantha Smith added that the district’s relatively small size demands a present superintendent.

“I would like to see someone who makes themselves known here,” she said. “Someone who isn’t just sitting at their desk all day. Someone who will get to know the staff, students and community very well. I think that’s important in a superintendent.”

But both trustees were quick to add that they have yet to meet with District Wise to finalize what traits the Board of Education is looking for.

“It’s important to talk about it as a board,” Mensch said. “My personal view of a superintendent could be different from what other members or the community think. What’s key about this process is finding out what we’re all looking for and who is the best fit for the job.”

Though Blind Brook residents will be tapped for their input, the board president said they won’t have a direct hand in the hiring process.

“There won’t be a superintendent search committee formed for this because it’s in our best interest to be able to keep things anonymous,” he said. “It’s entirely within the realm of possibility that a potential candidate may not necessarily be looking for a new job, so confidentiality is pretty important.”

However, the community’s priorities will be collected as part of the candidate profile the search firm will put together.

“Dates haven’t been set yet, but District Wise will host at least two town halls where people can air their thoughts and opinions,” Smith said. “And when they do put together the candidate profile, it will be presented at a board meeting. People can provide feedback on that as well.”

Mensch said gathering as much information as possible is essential to the process, as the board hopes to find a long-term superintendent.

“We want a long-term solution for the position,” he said. “There have been too many mistakes in the last 10 or 15 years. We need to find someone who will take our district to the next level and be here for a while.”

The district is no stranger to administrative turnover. In the last 10 years, four people have held the superintendency.

William Stark’s unexpected resignation in March 2015 opened a revolving door in the superintendent’s office.

His successor, Dr. Jonathan Ross, resigned four years later in 2019 to step into the assistant superintendent of finance role so he could oversee the notoriously troubled Ridge Street Elementary School construction project. Ross ultimately retired before the project was completed in December 2020.

Byrne became interim superintendent when Ross stepped down while the district searched for a replacement. The Board of Education ultimately hired Dr. Patrick Brimstein to fill the role in July 2020.

Just months into the 2021-22 school year, following the State of New York’s dramatic shuttering of Ridge Street School, Brimstein resigned in October.

Byrne has held the role ever since.

Mensch called Byrne Blind Brook’s most successful superintendent in recent years and credits that to his longevity and intimate knowledge of the district.

“Colin was an internal candidate and we’re more than happy to talk to more of them, if anyone is interested,” Mensch said. “We could very well get through this process with someone from within the district, but we might not. The ultimate goal is to find someone who is the best fit for Blind Brook.”

The board members expressed their hope to hire a new superintendent in May, before the 2025 budget vote and school board election. Should the district be unable to come away from the process with the ideal candidate, an interim will be hired.

“In the unlikely event that we can’t find the perfect fit by May, we’ll hire an interim until we’re able to find someone who is,” Mensch said. “We’re not interested in picking someone for the sake of picking someone.”

Further details on the District Wise town halls will be released in January.