One Step Closer: Webb School Board introduces superintendent finalists, holds public interviews

The community interviews of  the three candidates for the Town of Webb UFSD Superintendent position were conducted Wednesday evening, January 4, in the vocal music room at the school.

The interviews were conducted as an hour-long question and answer period between community members and each candidate.

Approximately 30 people were in attendance.

Marc Czadzeck, who is currently the Building Principal for grades pre-kindergarten through twelve at the St. Regis Falls Central School, was the first to be interviewed.

The second candidate was Francine Shea of Middleport, who has previously held a Superintendent position in the Beaver River Central School District.

Town of Webb School Principal Rex Germer was the final candidate to take questions from the audience.

All three candidates showed a genuine compassion for education and for the students they are responsible for, and shared similar views on such subjects as distance learning.

However, one of the issues where there was a difference of opinion was that of technology in the classroom, and how to integrate the best technology, for both the students and the teachers, into the Town of Webb School.

Shea expressed concern over the desire to bring technology in without a solid, long-term, working plan. However, she also felt that if there was a plan to bring more technology in, that the technology be standardized and that teachers be adequately trained to utilize the tools.

“Technology is probably one of the top three things that we need to be focusing on with our students. College readiness, of course, is one of them, technology is another. I think technology- wise it would certainly be great to see smart boards in every classroom,” said Czadzeck.

Rex Germer’s vision, however, is one where within five years TOW School will be a place where children are carrying devices, not books.

“In an ideal world we will all be on digital mobile devices. The kids will be working collaboratively, and our school will not be an isolated school. We will be connected globally to other places as well,” Germer said.

Throughout the interviews, each candidate expressed a desire to work with the Board of Education, the faculty, the students, and the State standards, to fix the distance learning program, and look at the possibility of additional courses for students, while also working within budget.

Because of the population size of students enrolled at Webb, community involvement was also a concern for family and community members and each candidate interviewed expressed a desire to increase the community’s involvement with its students.

Czadzeck hoped that as Superintendent, he could help to start a program where students began thinking about their future careers in the fourth grade through the help of a mentor program with high school aged students.

He also proposed a program whereby high school aged students would work with local businesses to apply what they have learned into practical experience.

Shea talked about the value of community enrichment and collaboration and stressed a desire to bring the community together with the school, and get the school out into the community as much as possible.

Germer stressed the importance of addressing the community- wide issue of low school enrollment by bringing the school and the community together for discussions.

“The hard thing for us here is we need to address the community issues. I think community planning needs to be in place to address some of those things, and I think the school should be a part of that community planning,” Germer said.

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