The Fayetteville-Manlius School District is not rushing into its search for a new coordinator of music.
“After consulting with many music educators in the area we made the decision that it’s in the best interest of the program to conduct our full search for a replacement in a timeframe when all potential candidates could consider the position,” said Jeff Gordon, assistant superintendent for personnel at F-M.
Right now, the district’s priority is to find an experienced music teacher, or teachers, to temporarily take on the classes taught by David Brown, who recently informed the district he is resigning after directing the high school choirs and musicals for the past five years. Brown will resign on Sept. 25 and start a new job as director of visual and performing arts for the Ithaca City School District on Sept. 26.
“We’re lucky that we know many individuals who have an incredible amount of experience at this kind of work, and we’re in the process of making a decision about who … will work with our students for the year,” Gordon said. “And we believe that’s the best way to make sure that our students have a great experience this year.”
He said the district has already begun speaking with highly qualified, experienced educators who are not interested in the full-time position.
“That would include people who have taught and for various reasons have done adjunct work, and are now doing work in the local universities, and also retired individuals who have a great deal of experience in these positions,” Gordon said.
By postponing the search for a permanent replacement until the second half of the school year, F-M will have a more complete pool of candidates to choose from, he said.
“If we were to try to do that in the fall, we know there are highly qualified individuals who are currently in teaching positions who will not leave their students in the middle of the year. And we certainly appreciate that,” Gordon said.
Gordon said the district will begin the search for a new coordinator of music in January or February, and the position should be filled in time for the 2013-14 school year.
Ned Campbell can be reached at [email protected].
