|
Home
. . . . .
Superintendent
. . . . .
News
. . . . .
|
PRESS RELEASE
Ely is new superintendent
Assistant superintendent to take
over for Dr. John Falco; first day
is Jan. 3
Assistant Superintendent Eric Ely
will get a promotion in January.
Ely, 46, has been selected as the
district’s new superintendent by the
Board of Education. Board members
announced their decision at a Monday
afternoon press conference.
His first day is Jan. 3.
“It’s certainly an honor that the
Board of Education has enough faith
in me to carry on as the leader of
the school district,” Ely said. “It
has always been a goal of mine in
education to become a superintendent
and to help a district meet the
needs of every child. I certainly
look forward to the challenge, a
challenge I’ve spent the last 24
years preparing for.”
Ely will be paid $142,000 annually –
the same salary as outgoing
Superintendent John Falco. Dr. Falco
announced last week that he will
leave Jan. 2 to become director of a
College of St. Rose leadership
program. Falco has said he will stay
on to assist with writing grant
applications for Schenectady.
The board unanimously endorsed Ely
as superintendent, pointing to his
record of leadership, experience and
success as an administrator in urban
school settings as prime reasons for
offering him the position.
Ely spent more than 10 years as a
principal in urban school districts;
he was high school principal in the
Huber Heights (Ohio) City School
District for five years before
taking over as the Zanesville (Ohio)
High School principal in 1999. In
2002, he became principal of
1,700-student Dover High School and
Regional Career Technical Center in
Dover, N.H.
“Five years ago, we promoted
district Deputy Superintendent John
Falco and everyone recognizes now
that that really worked out for us,”
said board President Jeff
Janiszewski. “We have created a
culture of leadership in Schenectady
and we feel very confident about the
leaders we are growing right in our
system.”
“I think we have an excellent
administration team at the building
and district level at Schenectady
and an outstanding teaching staff,”
Ely said. “I look forward to working
closely with them.”
Janiszewski and the board felt it
unlikely that a nationwide search
would yield a candidate with Ely’s
experience and qualifications. Ely
has signficiant urban district
experience, a necessary tool to
implement the district’s Strategic
Plan and lead Schenectady through
the first decade of the 21st
century.
“Eric is an individual with deep
experience who has performed
extremely well as assistant
superintendent,” said Janiszewski.
“He has been an administrator in
districts with diverse populations.
He is someone who is highly
qualified and will do a stellar job
as Schenectady superintendent.”
Even though Falco announced his
decision to leave last week, the
board has had weeks to mull over a
successor; Falco alerted the board
to the possibility of his departure
several months ago, he said.
Hiring Ely will also keep him in
Schenectady, eliminating the
possibility of losing him to another
district’s superintendent search.
More than 80 New York State
districts announced vacancies for
superintendents during the first
nine months of 2005, according to
Superintendent of Schools.com, a
Fredonia, N.Y.-based consulting
service for boards of education and
superintendents.
Several local superintendents are
starting the 2005-06 school year at
new school districts; L. Oliver
Robinson left Mohonasen earlier this
year to become Shenendehowa’s new
superintendent; he followed Michael
Marcelle, who left Scotia-Glenville
to take over as superintendent at
South Colonie.
Other local districts, such as
Albany, Mohonasen, and Burnt
Hills-Ballston Lake promoted
assistant superintendents to the top
job after long superintendent
searches – which can cost upwards of
$20,000. Those costs don’t take into
account dollars districts spend on
hiring interim superintendents until
a permanent replacement is found.
“There are in excess of 80
superintendencies open around the
state,” said Janiszewski. “That’s a
lot of districts conducting
nationwide searches, a lot of
competition for what little might be
out there. Plus, we wouldn’t
consider hiring anyone without work
experience in an urban school
district, and the pool gets much
thinner.
“Some districts concluded after
searching that hiring someone from
within was the best they could do,”
Janiszewski continued. “We’ve
concluded the best thing we can do
is hire one of our assistant
superintendents because we know he’s
that good.”
Janiszewski said the board will
undertake a nationwide search to
replace Ely; Ely was hired by
Schenectady as assistant
superintendent for operations after
a nationwide search.
Ely, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio,
is a graduate of Ohio State
University. He holds an advanced
degree from the University of
Dayton.
He has been in education since 1981;
he taught math and science in grades
7 through 12 from 1981 to 1994.
He became unit principal at Wayne
High School in 1994 and principal of
the school two years later; in 1997,
the school was named the Brad
Tillson School of Excellence, the
first Ohio high school to receive
the honor. Ely was principal at
Zanesville (Ohio) High School from
1999 to 2002, overseeing a student
population of 1,100 and more than
100 teachers.
At Dayton High, the school’s
attendance rate rose – to over 95
percent – and its dropout rate fell
by more than half – to 2.6 percent –
during Ely’s tenure.
Ely, who lives in Schenectady, is
married to his wife, Sharon. They
have three children and three
grandchildren.
<back |