Webutuck appoints new interim administrators

WEBUTUCK ­— The Webutuck Central School District Board of Education has appointed Lee Bordick as the new interim superintendent and Mary Grden as the new interim business administrator for the district, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

Bordick replaces Dave Paciencia, who has been acting as interim superintendent since shortly before school began this year.

Paciencia will still be employed by the district and utilized by the Board of Education (BOE), board President Dale Culver stressed, assisting the district in moving forward and finding a permanent superintendent. Paciencia said he has already started in the search process and is hoping to hold a public forum in January to find out what the community wants in a superintendent.

“He has a working overview of what this district will most likely need,� Culver said Monday, Dec. 21. “The board has a great deal of respect and trust for him in the short time that he’s been here.�

When asked what Paciencia had brought to the district in the five months he had worked as superintendent, Culver had nothing but the highest praise for him: “Respect, integrity, honesty and follow-up.�

“I feel we are all hired by the board to do a job, and if we all do the jobs we’re supposed to do the district is in a better place each and every day we show up to work,� said Paciencia on Dec. 21, when asked what he felt he had brought to Webutuck since becoming superintendent. “The district isn’t about any single person, it’s about kids. If we focus on that then we’ve done what we’ve been hired to do.�

Paciencia explained that he will be stepping down due to an unforeseen and unknown health issue. His doctor’s orders are to cut back his hours, at least for now.

“I told the board I would never leave until we had someone who was really good to replace me,� he said. “Lee is 10 times better than I would have ever hoped. He’s very knowledgeable and excellent for the district.�

As business administrator, Grden will be replacing Linda Peters, who Culver said has moved on to another job.

“She gets things done and get things done very quickly,â€� said Paciencia about the new business administrator at the Dec. 14 board meeting.  “She jumped right in, and we’re very fortunate she was able to do this for us.â€�

The Board of Education’s intent is to find full-time replacements for the jobs the board has created, Culver explained, adding that the district is continuing to reconfigure the way it does business.

“When we’ve achieved those goals, hopefully we’ll have the ability to bring someone in to continue that mind-set and path,� he said.

“We have two great people coming to the district,� Paciencia added. “Between now and June the district will come to the next plateau. The idea is to keep getting us to the next level. The district is moving forward, and I want people focusing on building a better district for the future.�

The working relationship between the board and the superintendent has improved significantly since Paciencia became interim superintendent, Culver said, and he was confident about the new superintendent’s abilities.

“I know Lee will continue in that direction,� he said.

“It’s a great district,� Paciencia concluded. “There’s so much more that can happen here and I know it will happen with the right leadership. I was honored to be selected to come and be a small part of it.�

The next Board of Education meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 4, at 7:30  p.m. in the high school library. It will be Bordick’s first meeting and Paciencia will be present as well to see through the transition.