Russell Bartlett named new school superintendent

by Rich Rosentreter

The Tupper Lake School District Board of Education last week announced that it has officially selected former middle/high school Principal Russell Bartlett as its new school superintendent with an anticipated start date of July 1.

The school district along with the Franklin Essex Hamilton BOCES district superintendent’s office has been in the process of finding the replacement for Seth McGowan who last year announced he was retiring from his post.

Mr. Bartlett began working in the Tupper Lake School District in 1994 as a science teacher and has also served the district in the capacities of athletic director and dean of students and since 2015 has been serving at the principal of the middle/high school.

According to school board President Jane Whitmore, the board received and reviewed 10 applications at a special meeting on February 26, and of those initial applicants, the board invited five to a confidential round of interviews with the board of education on March 9.

“Upon completion of those interviews, the board selected three finalists to advance to a second round of interviews on March 26 with three constituent groups representing school staff and community members,” Mrs. Whitmore wrote on the school’s Facebook page. “Because of Governor Cuomo’s executive order against gatherings, the March 26 interviews were initially postponed. As it became more evident that the restrictions against public gatherings would continue indefinitely, the BOE became concerned that the delay in hiring a replacement could have a severe impact on the stability of the district. Luckily, one of the finalists from the initial interviews stood out above the other field of impressive candidates, and he happened to already be working for the district.”

Mrs. Whitmore also indicated that the school board “felt strongly that as it was becoming increasingly clear that schools will be facing significant challenges in the next several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having someone with an intimate knowledge of the school and community was vital,” she wrote, adding that although “the board was disappointed that the constituent groups were not able to weigh in on this important decision,” it was solely the board’s decision to hire a superintendent.

Now the board and Mr. Bartlett are in the process of finalizing an employment agreement and plans to appoint the new superintendent at a special board meeting as soon as the process is completed, according to Mrs. Whitmore, who added that Mr. Bartlett will begin working immediately with Mr. McGowan on a transition plan for the district.

The new superintendent

The Free Press contacted Mr. Bartlett following the announcement of his selection as the new school district superintendent and the following is the Q&A session:

What are your thoughts on being named as superintendent and what does this position mean to you?

“It has really set in over the past couple of days now and honestly, it's humbling. There are a lot of people who were here at TLCSD a long time before me who put a lot of work into making it the great district it is. I've had the opportunity to learn a lot (and experience some) of that history and it's really given me a deep sense of responsibility to do everything I can to continue that work.”

What are the qualities you bring to the table for this post?

“I think one of the most important qualities anyone brings to the position is an ability to see the "big picture. Seth (McGowan) frequently refers to the 30,000 foot view, and you have to be able to see that 30,000 foot view while keeping in mind the individual kids and families who are impacted by every decision you make. I think I have a pretty good grasp of the Tupper Lake community and its values and expectations because they're my values and expectations too. I may have been born about 60 miles north of here, but I've been here long enough that I can't imagine calling anywhere else home. I have a personally vested interest in seeing the school and its students succeed.

How do you plan to help the Tupper school district through the COVID-19 crisis and its impact in the future?

“I wish I knew what that impact was going to be. I think the fallout of this situation is going to continue to unfold over the next year. There's undoubtedly going to be a ‘new normal’ and before long, things we wouldn't have imagined are going to be a part of everyday life, I just don't know what those things are right now. I know that we've learned an awful lot about the strengths and weaknesses of remote learning, and it's going to be important that we bring people together once we can do so to evaluate those things. The more prepared we can be for ‘next time,’ and I hope there isn't a next time, the better off our kids will be for it.”

How do you plan to maintain the success of the school district?

“I think it starts with listening and communicating. I don't think, in education, you can spend a lot of time ‘maintaining.’ You always have to be planning and looking for ways to improve. I don't think, as a district, we have any glaring deficiencies right now, but the world is changing fast and we have to make sure that we do everything we can to give our kids a chance to succeed after they leave us. I think in this position you have to listen to as many different voices as you have access to, and then you need to communicate with people once decisions are made. If you're going to listen to everyone, you're going to get differing opinions, and you need to validate the opinions that didn't make it into the final decision in order to keep that line of communication open in the future.”

How excited are you for the future of the TL school district?

“Very. I do think there are some tough times coming around the bend, we keep hearing hints of bad, bad things happening to school funding from the State every day. I lived through what seemed like educational Armageddon in 2009-10, when we saw almost 25% of our staff disappear in the blink of an eye, but we bounced back. Yeah, there are still some visible scars from that time, but for the most part we’ve still managed to continue to provide some awesome educational opportunities for the kids of our district. The Tupper Lake community is unique in its willingness to pitch in and help each other through tough times. That's an amazing security blanket to have when the clouds start building on the horizon.”

Any message to the students and parents of the district?

“My door is open. I know everyone who has ever started a new job anywhere has talked about their door being open, but I think the students and staff who I've worked with over the past 26 years at the middle/high school will tell you that I work hard to make sure that it's absolutely true. The basic premise of education is simple: Find out what kids need and help them get it. It can get exponentially harder from there, but step one has to be to listen. It's the only way you can hear them tell you what they need!”