Superintendent Bill Lynch
FULTON, NY – At the Fulton City School District board meeting held in late October, the Board of Education officially addressed and unanimously approved the resignation of current Superintendent of Schools, William Lynch for the purpose of retirement.
After serving 11 years as superintendent for Fulton school district, Lynch will be replaced starting July 1, 2016.
The search for superintendent has been ongoing since the initial announcement of his retirement and has included many members of the community including focus groups composed of administrators, teachers, support staff, central office, parents, students and members of the general public.
Lynch, who refers to his years as superintendent as “rewarding, but equally as challenging,” has confidence that the school board, faculty, staff and community will find an adequate replacement that will be able to thrive in their role for the district.
Lynch hopes his replacement will “continue to provide positive, quality opportunities for students,” he said.
With quite a few opportunities to recall moments that stand out during his role as superintendent, working through the fiscal crisis after 2008 and being able to provide more support for students are a couple examples according to Lynch.
In regards to the financial crunch the district faced after 2008, Lynch said he owes “a lot of credit to the community in helping the school district to stay stable. We had to scale back the depth of some things, but we didn’t have to eliminate programs.”
Lynch notes that he was pleased to avoid eliminating any programs, as that is one of the most common ways to remedy a financial crisis but not the most productive.
“We are still challenged financially, but we’ve been able to provide a lot of supports for our students to help with challenges they face such as the school-home liaisons available in the schools, mental health services with community agencies and dual enrollment with college credit at the high school. This starts them on the right path for their next step after high school. We have just tried to be very balanced as a whole,” Lynch added.
The new superintendent will look to build off these accomplishments and continue to propel the Fulton City School District in the right direction for success.
At this stage, the board of education has narrowed the search from the pool of semi-finalist applicants to three finalists involved in the final round of interviewing.
On December 7, 8 and 10, the three finalists will spend the day visiting all the schools in the district and will undergo an interview by the focus group members the same afternoon.
Later that evening, the board of education will interview the finalists again.
The board is then responsible to make the final decision amongst the three finalists and begin the process of negotiating a three-year contract.
The new superintendent is expected to be announced in early January of 2016 and will officially begin their position on July 1, 2016.
While the new superintendent begins their journey within the school district, Lynch will begin his journey in retirement.
With his newly acquired free time, Lynch hopes to “continue some work, just with a change of pace. I don’t have any firm plans but I have plenty of choices. I plan to stay active and healthy. I appreciate the time to be retired, but I like to stay busy,” he said.
In attendance at the October board meeting, junior high technology teacher David Derouchie addressed Lynch’s retirement saying, “Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. We appreciate everything you’ve done in the past ten years.”
Followed by G. Ray Bodley High School Principal, Donna Parkhurst, saying “On behalf of myself and the administrative group, congratulations. You are well deserving for a peaceful, happy retirement.”
“It’s been a very gratifying journey and experience. I’ve enjoyed working with the students, parents, families and staff and being able to make a difference,” said Lynch.
Anyone looking for more information regarding the superintendent search can visit the Fulton city school district website.
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Betsy should be the new Super. She is local and has strong ties to Fulton and she knows the business of the district well. Let’s not be like Oswego where they have a revovling door for Supers.
Mike Gibson
Mr. Lynch has done a nice job, and he will be missed. Good idea to search far and wide for the next leader of our school district. Let’s not fear change.