NEW ROCHELLE, NY (March 2, 2023) — The New Rochelle Board of Education is marching along on their accelerated schedule at breakneck speed to reach what many school district insiders believe is a pre-determined outcome in what is by any measure a lightening fast 20 school day search for a new Superintendent that will end this week.
The Board is looking to fill the position after the unexpected resignation of current Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond who announced his registration on January 10th.
Tonight was the dog-and-pony show for 3 finalists before a 120-person Citizens Advisory Committee. Tomorrow begins the final selection process which many believe is pre-ordained.
The Board of Education says it received 37 applications for the position, invited five candidates for in-person interviews and selected three candidates to appear before a 120-person Citizens Advisory Committee on Thursday.
CAC Members were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement so the three finalists could be kept secret.
The finalists are Robert Rodriguez, Dr. Nyree Dixon and, to the surprise of precisely no one at City Hall, Corey Reynolds.
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources
Uniondale Union Free School District
Uniondale, NY
Acting Superintendent
Community Education District 14
Brooklyn, NY
Assistant Superintendent for Human
Resources
City School District of New Rochelle
New Rochelle, NY
Rodriguez and Dixon were so unprepared and out of their depth that CAC members were left to wonder how bad the other 34 candidates might be. The dilemma facing CAC members was reminiscent of the Kobayashi Maru training exercise, a type of no-win scenario manipulated so Reynolds appeared to be a strong candidate but only because of the contrast with two weak candidates.
Oddly, Reynolds spoke about allegations of anti-semitism leveled against him last fall, calling them “disgusting”.
We first reported in January that the word around central office is that the job is Dr. Corey Reynolds to lose. The Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources joined the City School District of New Rochelle 18 months ago.
At a recent board meeting at George M. Davis Jr. Elementary School, BOE members and the Board Clerk heatedly denied that the Perfunctory Superintendent Search led, curiously, not by a search firm but by law firm Ingerman Smith, is kabuki theatre to mask the pre-determined outcome of hiring Reynolds. The board was upset with Myriam Decime in a methinks-the-lady-doth-protest-too-much sort of way for Decime questioning why what she called the “Crack Head” Superintendent Search was so rushed, saying it seemed like they had picked their candidate before the search began. She was accused of “listening to Cox”. The heated exchange carried out into the Davis parking lot with board member Katie Minaya shouting at Decime.
Reynolds is, unsurprisingly, one of the three finalists who, many expect, will be coronated by the board by the end of the week, possibly as soon as tomorrow.
In contrast to the current wham-bam approach, past search processes in New Rochelle took place over many months, included public input sessions to develop job criteria for the ideal candidate and involved search firms or, in one case, the Superintendent of Southern Westchester BOCES (Feijóo). That said, no Superintendent Search over the past 9 years could be called successful.
The CAC conclave Thursday was scheduled to run for 3 hours with each candidate gave a 15-minute presentation on their proposed entry plan based on the board’s strategic roadmap then taking questions from the 120 member Citizens Advisory Committee for 45 minutes. The list of CAC members was made up 60 stakeholders (PTAs, Bargaining Units, and 21 outside organizations) and 60 community members as well as 10 designated alternates.
The “partner community organizations” include 5 religious organizations (Tamid Westchester/Beth El Synagogue, Bethesda Baptist Church, NY Covenant Church, St. Catherine’s AME Zion Church and the Interreligious Coalition).
The complete CAC Membership list is here.
RELATED:
Perfunctory Superintendent Search Suggests New Rochelle Board Has Their Candidate in Hand
New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Unexpectedly Resigns, Effective 6/30
New Rochelle Schools Hires a New Human Resources Chief
Jonathan P. Raymond Selected as New Rochelle School Superintendent
Target Timeline
• Jan. 27-Feb. 8: Superintendent applications welcomed
• Feb. 9-12: The Board of Education reviews applications
• Feb 13-17: The Board of Education interviews candidates
• March 2: Presentations by finalists to a Citizens Advisory Committee and the Board of Education, and a final Board interview.
• March 3-5: Final deliberations by the Board of Education.
• March 6-13: Negotiations begin
• After March 14: The new superintendent is announced to the public
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