Ossining Board Still ‘Processing’ Superintendent’s Decision To Retire
The Ossining Union Free School District (UFSD) Board of Education has yet to begin formulating a plan of action regarding its superintendent’s decision to retire.
On June 29, Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Glassman announced on the district’s website that she plants to retire in mid-January 2013.
“After struggling with one of the most difficult decisions of my life, this decision now seems right for me at this time,” Glassman said in a written statement. She did not elaborate on the any of factors that led to her decision.
Contacted for his reaction last Friday, Board of Education President Bill Kress said the wheels are not yet in motion as to how the board will go about finding a new top administrator.
“This just happened,” Kress said. “The board just found out about it last Thursday (June 29), and right now we haven’t made any decisions. We are just, to be honest with you, in the middle of processing all of this, and we’ll make a decision, I think, in the next couple of weeks as to what the next steps are going to be.”
Kress praised Glassman as “an incredibly dedicated superintendent” who will be celebrating her 20th anniversary in the district in November.
“I can’t imagine a more dedicated individual,” he said. “She has really gone, I think, above and beyond. She will be difficult to be replace, and she will be missed.”
In her announcement, Glassman wrote of the “many outstanding Board of Education colleagues, administrators, teachers, staff members, parents, guardians, community leaders and students” she has worked with in the Ossining USFD and expressed pride in the district’s many accomplishments.
“Nearly two decades of living, breathing, and promoting the Ossining School District have taught me that ‘all is possible’ and that ‘nothing is impossible,’” she wrote. “Who would have imagined boasting 42 Intel Science Talent Search Semi-Finalists years before the Science Research Program was born, an Intel Schools of Distinction Finalist, a Best Community for Music Education, ‘Off the Charts’ College Acceptances, Long Range Plans, Academic Honors, Athletic Awards and Recognition, Cultural Arts Distinctions, the Elementary Schools Reconfiguration that actually created much needed space, Program Reviews/Curriculum Renewal, individual and collective student and staff recognitions, and school-wide honors – all within our Mini-United Nations!”
Glassman also cited “a recently passed Bond Referendum, a District Budget supported by what is now considered a ‘super-majority,’ a Long Range Plan that continues to guide the District through 2017, a commitment to excellence and equity, and a mantra of continuous improvement.”
The departing superintendent added that she intends to remain involved in the district in her retirement.
“Please know that through the beginning of 2013 and well beyond, I will continue to work alongside you to ensure that the Ossining School District remains ‘On the Map’ and excels further and further,” Glassman wrote.
Attempts to reach Glassman for further comment at her office and home on Friday were unsuccessful.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
