BALLSTON SPA — As the search for a new Ballston Spa Central School District superintendent continues, community members have indicated their support for someone who is not only honest and ethical, but also a good communicator and listener, according to results from a survey conducted recently.
Earlier this fall, the Board of Education asked both district residents and community members to participate in the survey developed by the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES in hopes of getting an idea of what characteristics they wanted to see in Ballston Spa’s next superintendent.
Former Ballston Spa High School Principal Gianleo Duca was named as the district’s interim superintendent following the abrupt resignation of Daniel Connor in August. Richard Murphy, former principal at Shaker High School in Latham, stepped in to serve as the high school’s interim principal.
The survey included questions, such as what strategy the district should take when choosing its next leader, and also asked respondents to rank what they thought were the most important skills for the next superintendent to have.
Over 1,000 people responded. The majority of respondents were district residents who have students enrolled in the schools, followed by district facutly and staff, and district students.
Based on the responses, most participants wanted the next superintendent to have experience with communicating effectively, being “exceedingly responsive” and have “a keen ability to think outside the box and develop creative solutions to complicated problems.”
Respondents also indicated they didn’t want a superintendent who would move the district in an entirely different direction, rather opting for a leader who has the same “education and management philosophy” that’s currently in place. However, they also expect that the individual who ends up leading the district to be able to make changes when needed, according to the results.
District spokesperson Stuart Williams said Board of Education President Jason Fernau is leading the search committee.
“The local BOCES Superintendent assists with the search and will be working on the next steps in the coming weeks,” he said.
The board did not return a request for comment. The survey’s results can be viewed at https://www.bscsd.org/domain/1001.
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