Tonight the Rye City Schools announced Frank Alvarez will be the next Superintendent, signing a five year contract. he replaces Ed Shine, who is retiring after 16 years. Here is the announcement:
"Dr. Frank Alvarez to be Appointed Next RCSD Superintendent
Introduction to the Rye Community on March 27th at 6 pm
On Tuesday, March 27th, the Rye City School District Board of Education will appoint Dr. Frank Alvarez, a veteran public education leader, as its next Superintendent of Schools. The Board will approve the contract with Dr. Alvarez in a special meeting that will begin at 6 pm, followed by a reception for Dr. Alvarez to meet informally with any interested members of the community in the MS-HS Library. The regularly scheduled Board meeting will commence at 8 pm in the multipurpose room, preceded by Executive Session at 7 pm.
He assumes the chief school officer position from Dr. Edward Shine, who has served as Superintendent of Schools for the past 16 years and will be retiring from the district effective June 30th.
Dr. Alvarez comes to Rye with an extensive background in educational leadership, having held superintendent roles in New Jersey public school districts for the past 18 years. He is currently the Superintendent of Schools of Montclair (NJ) Public Schools, a post he has held for the past nine years. Prior to this he was Superintendent of River Vale (NJ) Schools and North Caldwell (NJ) Schools.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Alvarez to Rye and we are confident that he will be an excellent superintendent for our District," stated Board of Education President Laura Slack. "After completing a rigorous superintendent search process, the Board unanimously agreed that Dr. Alvarez is highly qualified and is a great match for our educational goals and philosophies in Rye."
"I'm honored to be given this opportunity," said Dr. Alvarez. "Rye is one of the nation's premier public school districts, and I am committed to helping drive the district to even greater heights."
The contract between Dr. Alvarez and the Board of Education is for five years, beginning on July 1, 2012.
Dr. Alvarez began his education career in 1977 as a teacher, and became a principal in 1984. He later headed the New Jersey State Department of Education's Urban Initiative: Operation School Renewal, before embarking on a leadership career in several highly-regarded New Jersey school districts.
During Dr. Alvarez's time in Montclair, the district saw improvements in student achievement, particularly related to closing the minority achievement gap. Dr. Alvarez also spearheaded various efforts in the district including special education initiatives, integration of technology within the curriculum, gifted/talented opportunities for all students, Mandarin language instruction, and cultural opportunities that enhanced global relations involvement.
A strong advocate for public education, Dr. Alvarez serves on a number of professional boards including the Commission on Secondary Schools for the Middle States Association and the New Jersey Urban Superintendent Association's Executive Committee. He is an executive board member of the Tri-State Consortium and the Victoria Foundation. He is also a founding member of the District Management Council and the Panasonic Foundation's New Jersey Superintendents Network.
Dr. Alvarez obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Montclair State University and his Master of Arts and Doctorate Degrees from Columbia University's Teachers College. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Montclair State University. In addition to his career highlights, Dr. Alvarez has earned recognition for his educational research, which has been published covering a number of issues. He has also served as an adjunct professor and mentor to new and aspiring school administrators.
Dr. Alvarez, who resides in River Vale, NJ in Bergen County, is married and has two children. His wife is a teacher in a New Jersey school district."
Hope he’s a good one since no one from the Community was involved in the selection / interview process other than the Board. Of course, the Community provided “input”, but received no feedback on what was taken into account of that input. … And the replacement for the Osborn School Principal is going down the same path. So much for Community involvement in the School District beyond the public comment period at Board meetings and voting on bonds and budgets.
Bob –
Selecting and hiring personnel is difficult enough without including the public, but there are ways to liaise with parents and others as to the opportunities – were the local PTO heads included? I doubt they were. Nonetheless, I’m cautiously optimistic, though I wonder how much the Board considered the differences between NY and NJ state standards, and whether this will present a meaningful challenge for Alvarez to overcome. Other questions – will he relocate his family to Rye, or be a carpetbagger? Who negotiated his contract, and what’s in it – are we saving any money by paying him less than Shine? How big were the budgets he managed in Montclair, River Vale and North Caldwell? Did he build up a team of numerous non-teaching assistants while at Montclair? Does he have any ideas for shrinking overhead at Rye? And most important for sports aficionados – Yankees or Mets fan?
Shared Decision Making was mandated by NYS, even before that occured, the Rye City School District was a leader in Shared Decision Making, through its various community committees, under the direction of then Superintendent Barry Farnham. Ed Shine, then came to Rye from Gross Pointe, MI and led the RCSD through a community wide RCSD Stategic Planning including hundreds of hours of community involvement to develop a plan for the education of its students as lifelong learners. Apparently the current BOE has lost its roots and hopefully the new Superintendent will be the right individual to help them regain the leadership role they once had in community involvement. Here’s wishing you the best, Dr Alvarez as you join the Rye Community.
Outcome of tonight’s board meeting –
Board approval of the budget has been pushed to 18 March to allow more time for community input and evaluation of alternatives. Next meeting is next Tuesday.
Tonight the sitting board members whose terms expire this school year announced who was going to run and who not. The summary:
Laura Slack – will run again.
Ray Schmitt – will not run again.
Josh Nathon – will not run again.
All great people, thoughtful and caring about the district.