Interim Superintendent Stresses Deliberate, Measured Leadership of Pleasantville Schools

By Abby Luby

When Dr. Eric Lutinski announced his retirement as Rye Neck Schools superintendent last December, he considered going back to teaching. Starting as a high school social studies teacher in the Rye Neck School District in 1995, Lutinski went on to become a school principal and then assistant superintendent before assuming the helm as superintendent in 2021.

In a sit-down interview in his office earlier this month with The Examiner, published this week as Pleasantville schools prepare to start next week, Lutinski said the urge to return to teaching never materialized.

“The opportunity to become the interim superintendent for Pleasantville came up and I thought how much I liked being a superintendent and that I know how to be a superintendent,”  Lutinski said. “Also Pleasantville and Rye Neck school districts have many similarities.” 

When asked how he learned about the opening in Pleasantville, the Connecticut resident said it was from a friend. It was early July, and he and his family were vacationing in Hilton Head.

“It was a wonderful whirlwind,” Lutinski recalled. “It was like a day separation between retirement and starting a new job.”

A New Capital Project

Lutinski will have a pivotal role in establishing a new capital bond project vote in the spring of 2026. After last year’s failed $15 million proposal, the board and various project committees have been reexamining the proposed capital improvements.

“This year we are going to take another crack at this and it’s going to be a slightly different capital project. If it didn’t succeed last December it’s worth another try,” Lutinski said.

After watching board meeting recordings from last year, Lutinski said he better understood the different elements of the proposed bond.

“People want to understand why you’re going to spend $15 million and I can be on board with that if you justify it to me,” he said. “And that’s fair. Westchester is not a cheap place to live and you have to balance costs and family. We can communicate why an item is on the ballot, why we need this and why we feel it’s important. In return we get to hear back from the families what they value. Without dialogue it’s a non-starter.” 

Going forward, three capital project subcommittees are addressing key upgrades including STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) inclusive of visual and performing arts, field and lights, and the Bedford Road School playground. Lutinski met with all three subcommittees at a capital projects meeting last month.

“I moved around and wanted to hear what people were saying, what board members and committee members were talking about. Afterwards we shared information and agreed to a schedule of upcoming meetings,” Lutinski recalled, adding that minutes from the subcommittee meetings are expected to be posted on the district website.

“The goal is for the minutes to be written in plain English so everyone can understand and explain what major points were discussed and if there were any conclusions,” Lutinski explained.

Lutinski indicated his approach to generating a new proposed bond is comprehensive.

“For every element of the bond we are trying to measure twice and cut once,” he said. “We want to make sure every rock is unturned, every opinion is considered and be very deliberate and careful to make sure we get it right. There’s a concerted effort not to rush into it.”

Strategic Plan

The district started working on a strategic plan in 2014, establishing goals to build an academic and infrastructure framework. Phase Two of the strategic plan was adopted in 2019, entitled “Pleasantville Schools 2026.” But in-person committee meetings were stopped because of the pandemic in 2020. Work on the plan picked up about three years ago.

“A strategic plan feels like structure with goals and directions and the Pleasantville community, teachers and administrators are strategic plan veterans,”  Lutinski noted. “They are in good standing because they know how to do a strategic plan.”

Given the rapidly changing education arena, however, Lutinski cautioned against fully moving ahead on an updated strategic plan.

“New York State has changed in the past decade – they have new goals,” he said. “We’re talking about community engagement and capital projects, changes in technology, cell phone policies and AI. There’s a lot that has to be considered.”

For Lutinski, a year’s pause between strategic plans is perfectly appropriate.

“We want to reflect on the last strategic plan – what worked and what didn’t – and then consider the new goals,” he remarked. “It doesn’t mean that we are rudderless. The second half of the year with the capital project that much further along, I can see us having strategic plan discussions.” 

Cell Phone Ban

New York State recently passed the Distraction-Free Schools Law, requiring schools to store internet-enabled cell phones and other unauthorized devices out of sight for the entire school day. In response, the district just adopted a new policy spelling out the limited use of cell phones and other devices during school hours, directing students to store their phones and other devices in their lockers or backpacks.

There will be exceptions for school-sanctioned use, for students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program) or with medical needs, and with a teacher’s permission to use a device for a class activity.

“What we’re trying to prevent is the unfiltered, unfettered access to everything the internet has to offer during the school day, and that includes social media,” Lutinski said. “But to get through a seven-hour school day is not going to work with the adult authority figure saying ‘you must do this.’ We’re not going to frisk kids at the door — that will never work.”

“Right now Pleasantville is undergoing a transition to Apple – the Bedford Road School made the transition last year,” he added. “This year we’re giving middle school students an iPad to be used for educational purposes without an app store and filters to prevent looking at things at school and at home.”

Meetings with students and teachers to explain the new policy, as well as digital wellness, have been ongoing, with high school students expected to be most impacted, Lutinski said.

Eliminating screen time and technology for graduating seniors headed for college or careers where it’s required presents a dilemma, Lutinski acknowledged.

“The idea of eliminating the technology, that doesn’t do our kids justice,” he noted. “What we want is balance. We appreciate the law but sometimes you want local control. There’s enough leeway in the law for schools to use their judgment where they’re using technology.”

The New Director to Coordinate Curriculum

Lutinski fully supports the need for a new director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, a position the district is seeking to fill.

“Curriculum instruction and assessment direction is a critical position,” he said. “The idea is vertical alignment. What that means is kids sit in class and say ‘we never learned that last year’ and we say ‘Well, yes you did.’ Having a curriculum leader – someone that can glue K-12 together – makes sense. It’s getting inherited knowledge from each grade rather than the scattershot, mom-and-pop traditional way of looking at things.” 

Although the new director will make sure everyone is teaching to state standards, Lutinski said coordinating the curriculum will also allow for a certain amount of flexibility.

“There will be plenty [of] leeway for the teacher to teach their favorite lesson or do that thing that makes them special,” he said. “For a school district this size there’s no reason we can’t have that unified approach.”

Artificial Intelligence

The AI boom presents both challenges and opportunities for educators, and Lutinski said the imperative is to keep up while helping students use the technology responsibly.  

“It’s a concern and the job of the English teacher is to read the essay and offer feedback on how to make it better,” Lutinski observed. “AI is getting a jump on that — making corrections before the teacher. Being able to discern what the skill level of the student is getting harder.”

The district’s director of technology will be studying the rapid AI development and the educational impacts, Lutinski also said.

“There will be a continuing dialogue about how we match pace with each AI development,” he commented. “When 12th graders leave the district with a diploma they will know how and when to use AI.” 

School and Village Community

Lutinski said he appreciated how intertwined the Pleasantville school district is with the Village of Pleasantville and how the connection is a great benefit to both.

To become familiar with the community, he recently met with the village police chief and the mayor, dined at a few local restaurants and visited the farmers market. He praised Pleasantville High School assistant principal Gregg Fonde, who leads a bus tour of the district for new staff.

“It’s great,” he said. “You get eyeballs on the community, where your students are coming from, the streets they have to walk to get to school or from school to practice at the end of the day. They also get to see places students might be working.” 

He also called the Pleasantville school system “a focal point for the community,” noting it’s impossible to “really separate the two.”

“I think the school system is the community, not only economically, but with the infrastructure as well,” he said. “You can walk to each school, be part of local events. It’s a tight community.”