Dear Fayetteville-Manlius Community,
Over the past several days, we’ve received questions about our superintendent search. We stand behind how we conducted it, and we welcome the opportunity to tell you why.
Selecting a superintendent is the most consequential decision a Board of Education will make, and we approached it with the care and seriousness it deserves.
As communicated from the start and throughout the process, we conducted a confidential search. Confidential does not mean secret. Superintendent searches are often conducted this way to attract the strongest candidates, who are almost always in leadership roles in other districts. They have staff who count on them and communities they serve. A confidential process protects candidate identities, allows them to maintain professional relationships, and provides districts with the opportunity to attract the strongest candidate pool possible.
A confidential search is a common practice across New York State, and consistent with how other local districts have handled superintendent searches.
Responsible stewardship guided every decision we made throughout this process. We selected Dr. Matthew Cook of OCM BOCES to lead our search at no cost to the district. Dr. Cook knows this community, has conducted numerous searches across this region, and was a trusted partner every step of the way. The district established a budget for this search. The board completed the process and spent less than the budgeted amount, including every professional service engaged throughout the process.
As part of that budget, we brought in dedicated communications support for this transition. F-M has not had a new superintendent in more than a decade, and the confidential nature of the search required that transition materials be developed before Dr. Parvey could give notice to her current district. This work was handled through our legal counsel and fell within professional services the board had already authorized. Talking points, planning documents, and community messaging are standard tools in any major leadership transition. It is simply how professional organizations manage significant leadership changes.
Additionally, community feedback from multiple stakeholder groups, both during the search process and over the past few years, has consistently stressed the need for clearer, more effective communication with our more than 26,000 residents. The board wanted to use this opportunity to set a new standard and pilot the use of a dedicated communications professional for the district.
While we are members of the Board of Education, we are also parents, neighbors, and fellow community members. This decision could not have been more important to us, and we made it with F-M’s best interests at the center.
Dr. Parvey has had a terrific first two weeks. She has visited schools across our district, met with staff, listened to students, and shown up exactly as we expected she would. On March 21, she will host a community meet-up at a local bookstore, which will be one of many opportunities to meet her, talk with her, and see firsthand the leader we are proud to welcome to F-M.
We are confident that we will continue to build on the strong tradition of excellence that defines Fayetteville-Manlius when we move forward together.
Sincerely,
The Fayetteville-Manlius Board of Education