Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake students start superintendent search

PHOTOGRAPHER: David Lombardo

The community’s role in replacing Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District Superintendent Jim Schultz began in earnest Wednesday, with input from interested high school students.

District spokeswoman Christy Multer said officials are hoping to recreate the process that brought Schultz to the district in 2003.

“There was a lot of community involvement and give and take,” she said. “I think the district was very happy. … We ended up with Jim Schultz, so who could argue with that?”

There are certain legal requirements that need to be met by applicants the district looks at, including eligibility to be certified as a school administrator in New York. Multer said the other criteria will be set in large part by recommendations from district residents, staff and students.

“That’s what we’re hoping the community will help us determine,” she said of the characteristics the search committee are interested in. “This is really a question that the [Board of Education] is just starting to grapple with.”

The search committee, which is coordinated free of charge by Capital Region BOCES Superintendent Charles Dedrick, consists of the district’s Board of Education.

Input from the community can be offered through the district’s website or at three separate meetings. The first meeting was Wednesday with the students, while meetings on Oct. 13 and 18 will be geared more toward adults.

Multer said about 55 students turned out Wednesday and offered their perspectives, which focused mostly on the day-to-day aspects of life at the high school. Some of their issues, like locks on the lockers, were beyond the purview of the superintendent, but they also raised concerns about building maintenance. Students also said they were pleased with the district’s strong academics and sports and music departments.

“They would like to be able to see the superintendent more often,” Multer added.

In addition to input from the students in attendance, they also received hundreds of surveys from students. This process was also used in 2003.

The Oct. 13 meeting is at 7:30 p.m. in the O’Rourke Middle School cafetorium, and the Oct. 18 meeting is at 4 p.m. in the High School Library. To participate online with the superintendent selection process go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/HCS85HW.