New hire: Dr. Dave Moyer, incoming superintendent of schools, appointed after 5-2 vote

At a special board of education (BOE) meeting held last night at the Brosnan building, the board appointed Dr. Dave Moyer as superintendent of schools, effective January 2, 2024. The resolution to appoint Moyer passed 5-2, with trustees David Badanes, Victoria Buscareno, Larry Licopoli, Allison Noonan and Carol Taylor in favor of hiring Moyer, and trustees Thomas Loughran and Donna McNaughton opposed to it. Moyer was appointed for a term of three and a half years. 

Dr. Dave Moyer background
Moyer has been serving as superintendent of the Arlington Central School District in LaGrangeville, New York, for the past two years. He has 26 years of experience as a public school administrator, including 14 as a superintendent.

During his time in Arlington, the district was named to the 2023 AP Honor Roll and developed a major community engagement effort called “Arlington Connect.” Moyer was recently recognized by the Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Club for his commitment to the education of the community’s children.  

Prior to his work in New York, Moyer served as superintendent in Illinois and Wisconsin, most recently in Elmhurst, Illinois, from 2015-2021. He was named an Illinois Superintendent of Distinction in the State of Illinois in 2015, and under his leadership, Elmhurst was recognized by the Illinois Association of Curriculum Supervision and Instruction as the top district in the state for whole-child education in 2019.  

“Moyer is committed to the principles of whole-child education with an emphasis on equity and personalized learning,” read a public statement released by the district last night. “He frames his leadership style as inclusive and he will engage stakeholders throughout the Northport-East Northport school community in making decisions that support better outcomes for all students.”

President Licopoli expanded on Moyer’s resume at the meeting, stating administrative roles that include assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal, and athletic director. Moyer was also an English teacher, and earned his doctorate in educational administration from Northern Illinois University in 2004. He holds master’s degrees in educational administration and sports administration, and has a bachelor's degree in secondary education with an emphasis in English from University of Wisconsin.

Superintendent hiring process
In April 2023, the BOE retained the services of International Deliverables, LLC and its consultants, Drs. Teresa Lawrence and Thomas Ramming, for the hiring of a new superintendent. To begin the search, a school and community survey was posted on the district website and open to the public last May. The surveys were meant to gather input from all stakeholders, including residents with and without children in district schools, administrators, teachers and staff of the district, and students currently attending Northport-East Northport schools. 

The survey concluded with 497 responses and a consultants’ report was created to summarize the input received from the community survey, in addition to information from 15 input sessions with focus groups that occurred both virtually and in person, and several individual interviews, including one with current Superintendent of Schools Robert Banzer. The consultants identified from the community's feedback several qualities that were deemed important, from leadership experience, with previous work as principal or superintendent preferred, to experience in a similar district, expertise in budget development and financial management, ability to improve student outcomes, and not being afraid to take risks and lead meaningful change. 

By the August 11 deadline, a total of 29 applicants were brought in by the consultants, all of which were reviewed by the BOE, President Larry Licopoli told the Journal in an interview this morning. From there, eight were chosen and screened by the consultants and of those, four were selected for first-round interviews. 

“The recruitment of a superintendent is one of the most difficult jobs to recruit for in public education,” Licopoli said. “When I applied for my first superintendency in 1990, there were over 140 applicants for the job. In my last superintendency, at most, there were about 45. Since then, in the last ten years, you’re generally getting 25-35 applications, of which maybe five to eight are very strong and would merit a first-round interview. The pool is very, very small to begin with.” 

The selection of one superintendent from the four final candidates included a competitive and lengthy interview process with the board that lasted 60 to 90 minutes each, Licopoli said. “We had a set of questions that we worked with the consultants on, and after each interview, we did a rubric in which we rated our perceptions for each of the responses,” he explained, adding that two candidates came out on top after the interviews. “We felt like we had two excellent candidates for this position. The process for how to make a selection was a function of ‘Well, who would be the best fit?’” 

In accordance with the district teachers’ contracts, four teacher representatives also had an opportunity to interview the final two candidates, which was done confidentially and required the filing of a nondisclosure agreement. “The feedback the consultants gave us was that [the teachers] felt that Dr. Moyer was a better fit, and that was the sense of the board as well,” Licopoli said. 

The final step was for the BOE to have a public vote, which took place last night. When Trustee Loughran was asked by the Journal why he voted “no” on the measure, he stated, “I can't comment on personnel matters. I'll say my vote last night, as with all my votes, reflects my best thinking on behalf of the students and community of this school district.”

Trustee McNaughton confirmed with the Journal that, in its selection process, the board did not come to a unanimous decision on candidates, and echoed a sentiment similar to Loughran. “My not voting for Dr. Moyer is because I did not think it was the best match for the students and the community," she said. 

“It’s really important to vote your conscience,” McNaughton added. "Good people can come to different conclusions.” 

McNaughton commended the selection process, however, and said the pool of candidates was strong. She intends to fully support the new superintendent: “He has my 100% support and I look forward to what Dr. Moyer will bring to the district," she said.

A previous professional relationship
Information easily accessed via a Google search indicates a previous professional relationship between the current board president and the incoming superintendent. Moyer was hired as superintendent of the Arlington Central School District in upstate New York in May 2021, taking over for Licopoli, who was serving his second term as interim superintendent during the district’s hiring process. 

In a Facebook post, shared as he was beginning his superintendency in Arlington, Moyer described Licopoli as a “friend and mentor.”

“I’ve been a superintendent for 24 years. I was a superintendent in four school districts, assistant superintendent in two other districts, and principal in three different school districts,” Licopoli told the Journal. “Fourteen of my assistant superintendents became superintendents, so I have relationships with them still, today, keeping in touch, helping with questions, and being an ear. I’ve worked in eight different school districts across New York State, I was very involved with my professional association. I know a lot of superintendents, I know a lot of assistant superintendents. In fact, three of the four folks that we brought in for first-round interviews, I knew either through professional work or shared committees.”

Licopoli said that when Moyer was hired for Arlington through a process conducted by the BOE (a process that Licopoli said he was not involved in), the two worked together during a transitional period that lasted several weeks. 

When asked if he should have abstained from last night’s vote, Licopoli said no: “The fact of the matter is, I know a lot of superintendents and my objectivity is going to be based on what was presented at the interviews. If I felt that there was a conflict of interest, then yes, but there really wasn’t any conflict of interest because my relationship and knowledge of him was purely from a period of time in a professional environment. I left, he stayed, and life goes on.”

“I think he’s going to do a great job for us and he’s really looking forward to coming in,” Licopoli continued. “We do think it’s a good fit, for all the reasons we included in our statement, and for that matter, the profile that was put together by the community, he truly meets it, from an objective place.” 

“Advance us to the next level…”
Dr. Moyer and his wife will be joining the Northport-East Northport community as residents in the coming months, according to the district’s statement. He will be replacing current Superintendent of Schools Robert Banzer who, after eight years with the district, announced his resignation in January 2023, effective at the end of this December. Moyer’s first official day as superintendent is January 2, 2024.  

Licopoli talked about the evolution of leadership, and the transition from Banzer to Moyer, at last night’s meeting. “When you’re passing the baton, you’re always wishing that the person who’s receiving it is going to take what we learned, going to take where we are in the present, and move forward and advance us to the next level,” he said. “ I think that’s something we’re all hopeful for.”

Though there is no formal employment overlap between Banzer and Moyer, district officials said there will be multiple opportunities for the two “to connect and ensure a smooth transition between superintendencies.” Though Moyer had prior obligations in Arlington, where he is still superintendent, that prevented him from attending last night’s meeting, officials confirmed he will be visiting the district on Friday, October 13 to meet with various stakeholder groups, and that additional opportunities to meet and hear from him will be announced in the future. 

Stay tuned for more coverage, including an interview with the incoming superintendent by the Journal.