OSWEGO, NY – Oswego Middle School Principal Bonnie Finnerty is one of two finalists in the search for a new superintendent at the Schroon Lake Central School.
On Wednesday, she was informed by the president of the Schroon board of education of the decision.
Finnerty was named OMS principal in July 2008.
She credits her staff, faculty and the students at OMS for the success the school has experienced the last few years.
She had asked that this information not be published until after she had a chance to personally inform the OMS family about her situation.
Everything is still very much preliminary, she stressed, adding that there are more meetings and discussions to go.
Schroon is a town in the Adirondack Park, in Essex County.
The population was 1,759 at the 2000 census. The town is also known as Schroon Lake, which is actually a centrally located lake, and the name of a hamlet on the lake.
The Town of Schroon is in the southern part of Essex County and is north of Albany. It contains two lakes: nine-mile long Schroon Lake and five-mile long Paradox Lake. The two lakes are connected by the Schroon River.
According to 2005 statistics, the school district has about 296 total students with an attendance rate of 95% and graduation rates in the mid-70 percent range.
The following article appeared Wednesday in the Denton Publications/Times of Ti. (used by permission):
Schroon Lake – Ticonderoga High School Principal Michael Graney is one of two finalists in the search for a new superintendent at the Schroon Lake Central School.
Board of Education President John Armstrong said Wednesday morning, March 23, that board members stayed up late Tuesday night to choose Graney and Oswego Middle School Principal Bonnie Finnerty to head into round three of the interviewing process.
They interviewed four candidates earlier in the week.
“These four were a very tough choice for us,” Armstrong said, noting that the interviewing process went well this week. “We got input from the community and the teachers.”
On March 16, school board members trimmed their candidate pool down to four after interviewing nine applicants over three days during round one, March 14-16, according to School Board Clerk Lisa DeZalia, who is also the superintendent’s secretary.
During round two, the final four candidates were interviewed again March 21 and 22 by board members and two panels of stakeholders.
Armstrong said March 18 the board members had been “very pleased” with the quality of applicants so far, and said he was looking forward to round two.
“Our goal in round two is to spend a lot of time with them,” Armstrong said. “We really want to get to know these four very seriously. We’ve got four very, very good candidates.”
On March 21 and 22, the four superintendent candidates spent a day in Schroon Lake, from noon to about 9 p.m., with two people interviewed each day. They started out by having lunch with a couple of school board members at local restaurants, then headed to the school, where they were interviewed separately by two panels: a three-member group of teachers and a five-member group consisting of two community members, two support staffers, and one student representative.
Those interviews were held from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and again from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The applicants then met at 6 p.m. with the school board for interviews.
During the week of March 28, Graney and Finnerty will spend separate days at the Schroon Lake Central School with board members.
The following week, some of the board members will visit the candidates’ schools in Ticonderoga and Oswego to get to know the principals better.
During the week of April 11, the candidates will return to Schroon Lake for one final round of interviews.
Afterward, school board members will choose the district’s new superintendent.
The district’s current superintendent — Gerald Blair — was hired on an interim basis for the 2010-11 school year.
He replaced Michael Bonnewell, who left the position June 30, 2010 after 10 years to take the superintendent’s job at the Albion Central School District in Orleans County.
The new superintendent is expected to be on the job by the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.
A salary, which has not yet been determined, was advertised at a range between $110,000 and $125,000.
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Mrs. Finnerty is the epitome of a great academic leader. She possess all of the traits and qualities that are so rare to find. If she is chosen, then it will be Oswego’s greatest loss. It had been my hope that one day she would have been tapped as the next OCSD superintendent.