Three Finalists Named for Geneseo Central School District Superintendent

Three Finalists Named for Geneseo Central School District Superintendent

Geneseo, New York, April 9, 2019 – The Geneseo Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE), has named three finalists for the district’s next Superintendent.  Jennifer Mehlenbacher, President of the Geneseo Central School District’s BOE, said she is pleased with the high-quality candidate pool and is enthused about the potential the three finalists have to offer.   “The Board is eager and excited to present these candidates to our community. We were fortunate to have such a rich and diverse applicant pool to choose from and we anticipate that choosing just one will be a challenge. Our district has a reputation for being high performing with excellent educational programs and a multitude of extra-curricular offerings for our students and their diverse interests,” Mehlenbacher said. “We seek a candidate who not only supports our current mission and goals but will offer a dynamic vision for our district. This vision will aid us in setting future goals that will take our district to the next level of excellence and will prepare all of our students for success in their future endeavors.”

The three finalists are Sharon Smith, Cindy Flowers, and Brian D. Schmitt, Ed.D.

Smith is currently the Principal of Kendall Elementary School in Kendall, New York, where she also serves as the UPK Director, ESL Coordinator and grants writer and administrator. She’s held this position since 2012. Some of her initiatives include changes in literacy and mathematics instruction with alignment to Common Core standards, this resulted in moving the student proficiency rate from 32 to 61.8 percent in 2018. Previously, Smith served as Pre-K to 12 Education and Data Coordinator at Frontier Central School District (CSD) from 2011 until 2012. Her experience includes four years as a school building administrator at both Royalton-Hartland and Newfane CSDs. At Newfane CSD, Smith secured and administrated a $450,000 district-wide physical education/wellness grant project.

In 1984, Smith began her work in education as a sixth grade Language Arts teacher at Perry Elementary School in Perry, New York. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from SUNY Geneseo and a Master of Education degree from SUNY Buffalo. Smith earned a School District Administrator Certification from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. She has two permanent New York Certifications, as a Pre-K-6 School Teacher and a School District Administrator.

Flowers presently serves as the Special Education Administrator for Geneseo Central School District (CSD), where she is responsible for the development, coordination and supervision for students with disabilities, including all-related service needs for programming. Her work includes improved special education programming to bolster student achievement in order to graduate with a Regents and or Local diploma. She also worked to develop cohesive programming for in-service needs for students with Autism. From 2005 until 2008, she served as Principal of Wayland-Cohocton Elementary School, with a student population of over 600 students. She was the Director of Special Education at Wayland-Cohocton CSD from 2001-2002. Flowers started her career in education in 1999 as a school psychologist at Wayland-Cohocton CSD.

Flowers holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Alfred University and a Master of Educational Administration degree from The College at Brockport. She earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Psychology from Alfred University and has two permanent New York Certifications, as a School Psychologist and a School District Administrator.

Schmitt is the Superintendent of Genesee Valley Central School District (GVCSD) in Belmont, New York, where he has served since 2012. During his leadership, Schmitt has increased opportunities for college credit enrollment as well as socio-academic interventions. He also procured over $3 million in competitive grants for GVCSD. His experience as a school principal extends over eight years; he’s served as a principal at Hannibal High School, Eastridge Senior High School, and as an assistant principal at Fairport High School. Schmitt began teaching in 1998 at Cato-Meridian Central School in Cato, New York.

Schmitt earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish/Secondary Education and a Master of Education degree from St. John Fisher College. He holds a doctoral degree in Executive Leadership from St. John Fisher College. He has two permanent New York Certifications, as a School Administrator/Supervisor and a School District Administrator.

The finalists will visit the district on April 23, 24 and 30. Smith will visit on April 23, Flowers on April 24 and Schmitt on April 30. Meet and greet forums, which are open to the public, will be held each day at Geneseo Middle-High School in the Media Center from 4:15 – 5:00 p.m. Final interviews with stakeholder groups and the BOE will follow the meet and greet forums. The anticipated start date for the new Superintendent is July 1, 2019.

Kevin MacDonald, District Superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, who is acting as search consultant, said the Board has developed and implemented a process that will help determine the best candidate.
“This is a rigorous search process,” MacDonald said. “Finalists will visit at the district, and go through another round of interviews. The process concludes with the Board meeting to make a final decision.”
The final candidate will replace Timothy Hayes who recently announced his plans to retire. Hayes has served as Superintendent of Geneseo Central Schools for 13 years which spans a 37-year career in education.

The Genesee Valley Educational Partnership operates as a Board of Cooperative Educational Services offering shared programs and services to 22 component school districts located in Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston and Steuben counties in New York state.