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Dr, Paul R. Fried
Choice for New White Plains Schools Superintendent replacing Timothy Connors
WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the White Plains City School District with supplemented reporting by John F. Bailey. December 18,2014:
The White Plains Board of Education announced today that it plans to appoint Dr. Paul R. Fried as Superintendent of Schools, effective July 1, 2015. It is anticipated that a three-year contract with Dr. Fried will be presented for approval by the Board at its January 12, 2015 meeting at 7:30 P.M. in the High School Media Center.
The announcement comes within 2 months of resumption of a new search for a Superintendent after Mr. Connors informed the Board he would not serve for a third term as Interim Superintendent.
Dr. Fried comes to White Plains from Montville Township, New Jersey, where he has been Superintendent for the last five years.
Prior to that, he was Superintendent of the Mamaroneck School District from 2005 to 2010 and was a Principal and Assistant Superintendent in Ossining for the previous 19 years.
During his tenure in Mamaroneck, Dr. Fried contributed to the implementation of several important initiatives which focused on student and parent engagement, teacher effectiveness and the needs of a diverse community.
A reception for Dr. Fried will be held at 7 P.M. on January 12th, prior to the Board Meeting and the public is welcome. There will also be opportunities to meet the new superintendent in the spring, when he visits the community and the schools.
Dr. Fried emerged as the finalist among 62 candidates in a search conducted this past fall by former Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Dr. Leonora Boehlert.
After initial interviews, the Board expanded the interview team to include representatives from the Civil Service, Teachers and Administrators and Supervisors Associations, the Superintendent’s Cabinet, Centro Hispano, and parents.
A graduate of SUNY/New Paltz, Dr. Fried earned his Master’s Degree there as well and has a Doctorate in Educational Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University.
School Board President Rosemarie Eller said, “We are confident that, as a seasoned superintendent with a background as an educator in Westchester County, Dr. Fried has the experience necessary to succeed in White Plains. We look forward to welcoming him here.”
The hire comes two months. after the previous Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Dr. Leonora Boehlert had been hired by the district as a consultant to conduct a search for a new Superintendent.
The present Interim Superintendent, Timothy Connors had informed the district he would not serve a third year as Interim Superintendent, telling the Board of Education, “though they would like me to come back,” that he was going to go back to his home in Massachussetts, (even though there are is New York state regulation forbidding him serving a third year as interim superintendent).
Mr.Connors, speaking on the White Plains Television PEOPLE TO BE HEARD program with John Bailey and Jim Benerofe, confirmed his certain departure on last week’s telecast(recorded December 5), saying the school district “would have liked him to come back for a third year,” but he said he would not, even though there are no state laws forbidding a third year as interim superintendent.
Dr. Fried succeeds Mr. Connors who returned to White Plains last year as Interim Superintendent, after having served previously as Superintendent in the district from 2002 through 2009, replacing Dr. Saul Yanofsky.
Connors, WPCNR believes Mr. Connors’ 9 years service (at the end of this school year) ranks him as one of the longest-serving White Plains School Supertintendents, told the Board of Education he would not return for a third year as Interim Superintendent which the Board, he said would have liked, but he said on PEOPLE TO BE HEARD,
2009.