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Schools

Southampton Superintendent to Retire

J. Richard Boyes, Ed.D., will step down at end of school year.

Southampton School District Superintendent J. Richard Boyes, Ed.D., announced this week that he intends to retire at the end of the school year, after six years leading the district.

In a letter to the community posted to the school district's website, Boyes wrote that after 42 years in education, he has decided to step down to devote more time to his family. He first revealed the news during Tuesday's School Board meeting.

"I am making this announcement now in order to give the Board of Education as much time as possible to develop a plan for selecting a new superintendent," Boyes wrote. "It takes several months to develop specifications, advertise and recruit, interview candidates, negotiate a contract, and to allow the selected candidate to give sufficient notice to a current employer." 

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School Board President Heather McCallion said Boyes has been thinking about the move for a while, and kept the board informed. The School Board has already begun the process of finding the district's next superintendent.

"We have engaged a search firm and we're going to have a very comprehensive process," McCallion said. In late October the School Board is planning to meet with a number of stakeholders to discuss what they want in a superintendent. McCallion said the group will include faculty, staff, parents and students, as well as community members-at-large — district residents without children in the schools.

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The district will also put out a survey, she said. "We want this next superintendent to reflect the values of our community."

McCallion said the district should be in the process of interviewing and narrowing down the field of candidates by the spring.

The board is using the same search firm that brought Boyes to the district, School Leadership.

Boyes said that when he joined the district during the 2007-08 school year, the district lacked a mission, vision or goals, and there were no long-range business, transportation or facilities plans. He said, "What I saw were great people who were willing to work together to put the needed pieces in place to build a comprehensive plan for success."

And now, the district has statements of mission, vision and goals in place, that were developed with the input of the School Board, staff and community, he said. "We have strengthened our academic programs and achievement, our facilities and transportation programs, and our financial position. More importantly, we have developed our greatest resource — our people."

McCallion said, "His work over the past six years have left us in a great place financially, which not many district can boast."

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