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Greenport, Southold school districts begin separate searches for new superintendent

The search for a new superintendent in Greenport and Southold school districts has begun — separately.

The districts, which have operated with a joint superintendent for nearly six years, will conduct separate searches for their next superintendents.

Southold is conducting its search through School Leadership LLC, a Malverne-based firm composed mainly of former educators and school board members.

Greenport will find its superintendent with help from Eastern Suffolk BOCES. Both Southold and Greenport searches are following a similar process of gathering input from stakeholder groups, joint superintendent David Gamberg said Thursday. Both searches are expected to be completed by the end of the school year. 

Southold Parent Teachers Association hosted a community forum Wednesday to provide administrators from School Leadership LLC, Roseanne and Ranier Melucci, with ideas of what the community wants in a new superintendent.

That firm has already met with Southold students, elementary and junior/senior high school faculty, Mr. Melucci said at the meeting. The group will meet with the Board of Education Feb. 27 to review comments and suggestions made by local stakeholders.

Similarly, representatives from Eastern Suffolk BOCES will meet with Greenport’s Board of Education to share community input, Mr. Gamberg said, but a date for that meeting has not yet been determined.

Both districts will release surveys for community members who are unable to attend the forums. Southold’s is accessible online, and a similar survey will be posted for the Greenport process in the near future, Mr. Gamberg said. 

A public job posting by TheJobNetwork for the Greenport superintendent position is not advertised as a shared position. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 6.

Mr. Gamberg, who announced his retirement earlier this year, began working for both schools in July 2014 under a two-year contract, according to previous reports.

In an interview last month, Mr. Gamberg said he was in a “unique situation” which allowed him to take on the current arrangement as joint superintendent and would prefer not to speculate about the selection process for his replacement. 

The districts share services through an intermunicipal agreement established in 2013. They currently share three other administrative roles, besides the superintendent: director of educational technology, plants and facilities administrator and business official. The agreement has saved an average of $200,000 annually in each district. It’s unclear at this time if those positions will be maintained. 

Southold and Greenport also share student programs, including theater, robotics, television broadcasting, athletics, agriculture, NJROTC, professional development, parent information nights and special education.