The Board of Education is asking for community input on the search for a new Superintendent of Schools. Brian Monahan is serving as the interim head after Frank Alvarez left a year prior to his contract expiration.
The Rye Board of Ed has hired ECRA Group's Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to conduct the search. What's curious is the firm lists open positions at both Rye and Montclair, New Jersey. Frank Alvarez, before working in Rye, worked as the Superintendent in Montclair for nine years (see our story when he came to Rye).
Here is the letter sent by the board with a link to a survey they are asking residents to complete:
October 17, 2016
Dear Members of the Rye Community:
As you may be aware, the Board of Education of the Rye City School District has initiated its search for a new Superintendent of Schools. To counsel us through this important process, we have retained the services of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in assisting Boards with the consideration of candidates for Superintendent.
A key step in this process is to identify the characteristics we will be seeking in our new Superintendent. We would greatly appreciate your input and assistance with this important task. We, therefore, invite you to participate in this process by:
- Attending an Open Forum. Open forums, which will be facilitated by a member of the consulting firm, are scheduled as follows:
- Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Performing Arts Center and
- Thursday, November 3, 2016, at 9:15 a.m. in the Osborn School Auditorium; and/or
- Completing an online survey located at ecrasurvey.com/ryecitysd. The survey will be available from October 26 until November 9, 2016. [Publisher's note: the survey is available now.]
Thank you in advance for your assistance with this most important task.
Sincerely,
Katy Keohane Glassberg
Board of Education President
Rye City School District
For those being asked to provide input it certainly would be refreshing if the board would be forthright and truthful as to the real circumstances surrounding Mr. Alvarez’s premature departure. Why survey the taxpayers now and let events surface later in the media and be embarrassed? Case in point – Mr. Alvarez’s direct predecessor – Mr. Shine. Mr. Shine was unquestionably revered by the board publicly up until his abrupt untimely “retirement.” A retirement which soon turned out to be no retirement at all. Next came the six figure legal settlement with a coach wrongfully accused of a crime by the district. The case is complete with an exonerating video record first suppressed then found tampered with by the district and/or its outside attorney’s (attorney’s who as far as the public knows suffered zero legal consequences). I’m not going to link to the stories because re-victimization of the totally innocent is unfair to them. But you can look it up by searching The Journal News (a subscription required). Mr. Alvarez may have left because he simply didn’t like the commute anymore. But here’s the thing about the inner workings of today’s Rye Board of Ed – you just can’t be sure anymore.
(I am, for the record, a graduate of Milton, Rye Middle & Rye High Schools).