Greenport School District

After leaving in December, former interim principal is back

Robert Feeney. (Credit: Jennifer Gustavson)
Robert Feeney at a Greenport school board meeting in August. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo, file)

Greenport High School interim principal William Caulfield has resigned from the post he’s held since December, The Suffolk Times has confirmed. Superintendent David Gamberg said Mr. Caulfield left due to “personal reasons” and will be replaced by Robert Feeney, the school’s former interim principal who left late last year.

Mr. Feeney was hired in August to serve as school’s interim principal through December since the district planned to have hired a permanent replacement by the New Year.

However, Mr. Feeney’s planned replacement backed out late in the process and the school board hired Mr. Caulfield, a retired educator with 12 years experience as a secondary principal in the Rocky Point School District.

Now that Mr. Caulfield is leaving, Mr. Feeney has agreed to return until a permanent replacement is found, which the superintendent said is “very close” to happening.

“We’re managing the situation,” Mr. Gamberg said. “The staff is very pleased with the quality of the interim principals we’ve had and their extensive experience.”

Mr. Feeney retired from education in 2011. The Centereach resident worked for 28 years as an administrator in the William Floyd School District and also served as high school principal for nearly two decades during his tenure there. He currently serves on the Middle Country School District’s Board of Education.

• Fast Chat: Get to know Greenport’s interim principal Robert Feeney

Over the summer, the district launched a search to replace former secondary school principal Leonard Skuggevik, who resigned after accepting a school superintendent position on Shelter Island.

If a secondary school principal candidate is selected in the coming weeks, the earliest the permanent replacement could be hired is at the school board’s April 13 work session, Mr. Gamberg confirmed.

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