Gloversville extends offer to school leader

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

The Gloversville Enlarged School District Board of Education has made an offer and hopes to hire a new superintendent next week, said board President Peter Semione.

The superintendent will be required to live within the district of the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services, of which Gloversville is a member. The board would like the new superintendent to start work in late March or early April in the 3,200-student city school district.

“We selected a candidate and are in negotiations with the candidate,” Semione said. “The person gave his tentative approval pending outcome of negotiations,” he said.

He would not reveal the candidate’s name, citing confidentiality of negotiations. The three finalists were Steven Schloicka, business manager of the Gloversville district; Kenneth W. Newman Sr., Monticello Central School District assistant superintendent for student learning; and Gary Furman, Ellenville Central School District assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Semione said negotiations involve salary, health insurance, length of contract and fringe benefits, among other items. The board posted the salary range at between $125,000 and $140,000.

“The salary is negotiable, the health insurance is standard, but it may include some differences,” he said. Some prior superintendents received mileage reimbursement for travel between the district’s five elementary schools and its one middle and one high school. The length of the contract has to be a minimum of three years, he said.

‘face of the district’

Residency within the district is a job requirement, Semione said. He said the board will work with the new superintendent in meeting this requirement, as the person may have to sell a house and relocate his family, but will not waive it.

“You want someone to be entrenched in the district. They have to be visible to taxpayers and the public. They are truly the face of the district and the district is a big part of the community,” he said.

Schloicka lives within the district, Newman lives in Rensselaer and Furman lives in Sullivan County.

Semione said the new superintendent has to be a strong leader who “can remove us from the Schools in Need of Improvement list, who will help us with annual professional performance reviews for teachers, who can help us increase our graduation rate and attendance and who will move us forward financially.”

Gloversville has three schools on the state improvement list: Boulevard School, for English deficiencies; the middle school, for English and math deficiencies; and the high school, for English deficiencies. The federal No Child Left Behind law requires schools to demonstrate they are making progress every year in getting their students to 100 percent proficiency in English and math by the year 2014. Schools that consistently perform poorly could face closure or replacement of staff.

The Gloversville school district has cut approximately 88 staff positions over the last three years to keep tax rate increases to about 3 percent annually. In the future, it will have to limit tax increases even more because of the state’s new 2 percent cap on tax increases.

Semione said Gloversville has a 70 percent graduation rate, which the district wants to improve, and is working with Fulton County District Attorney Louise Sira on the Truancy Task Force.

“The truancy problem has gotten better and we want someone to stick with the plan and to move forward,” Semione said.

The new superintendent will also be involved in contract negotiations with district teachers. The current three-year contract expires in June, Semione said. The state tax cap will affect negotiations, he said.

Gloversville launched its search after Superintendent Robert DeLilli announced he would leave the district for the superintendent’s post in the neighboring Greater Johnstown School District. Retired Galway schools Superintendent Cliff Moses has been serving as interim superintendent in Gloversville.