A Special Board of Education meeting was scheduled for 6:15pm at the Administration Building, the meeting was opened at about 6:28pm.  Board Members Merritt, Bogle, Charter, Jefferson and Staino were present, ex-offico member Interim Superintendent Don Rothman was not present.

This Special meeting was held to announce the hiring of a new Superintendent.  The Board passed Resolution #06-214, Resolution to Approve Contract for Superintendent of Schools in a 5-0 vote.

Mr. Merritt said that Focus Consulting had 38 applicants of which 18 were Superintendents.  Seven candidates were presented to the Board.  The list was narrowed to three finalists in early April.  Neogations were initiated with the leading candidate and a contract was agreed upon.

Upon passage of the Resolution by the Board the contract was signed and Dr. Laval S. Wilson became the new Superintendent of the Poughkeepsie City School District.  Dr. Wilson will begin a three year contract on July 1, 2006 for $190,000 plus benefits. 

Dr. Laval S. Wilson

Dr. Wilson has 30+ years of experience as a Superintendent.  He is leaving the East Orange School District in New Jersey and previously was the Superintendent in Newburgh.  Dr. Wilson talked about a personal mistake he made in Newburgh.  He was involved in an automobile accident and cited for DWI an event that ended his career in Newburgh.  Dr. Wilson stated that he now understands that you cannot have even one drink and drive.  Dr. Wilson was born in Jackson, Tennessee and grew up in Chicago.  He is married and has four children.  Dr. Wilson provided a lot of written material which I have provided link to on the left.

Board of Education Member Comments:

• Ms. Staino stated she looked forward to working with Dr. Wilson over the next two years.
• Mr. Jefferson said that President Merritt and the Board worked hard to get the best Superintendent.  He also said that he would like to see the community come together and support Dr. Wilson.
• Mr. Merritt stated the he would add the Mayor of East Orange to his Christmas Card List for allowing Dr. Wilson to leave.
• Mr. Charter thanked Dr. Wilson for accepting the job.
• Ms. Bogle said that we brought the best Superintendent to the District and agreed with Mr. Jefferson that we need to come together and support Dr. Wilson.

Citizens were allowed to ask question of Dr. Wilson and he stayed after the meeting adjourned for a meet and greet.

On the left are links for the meeting Agenda, the new Superintendent's Contract, an Introduction by Laval Wilson and a Professional Profile provided by Dr. Wilson.

An article in the Poughkeepsie Journal can be found here.

Below I have created a quick list of links to additional information on Dr. Wilson.  I have not read the content but provide them as an additional resource.  Some of these links may require that you sign up to read more than one article.

• 07/19/1985 WGBH Boston
• 02/14/1990 WGBH Boston
• August 1998 Harvard Graduate School of Education
• 11/04/2000 Times Herald Record
• 11/16/2000 Times Herald Record
• 09/11/2001 Times Herald Record
• 06/05/2002 NYSUT

[ Up ] [ Agenda ] [ Minutes ] [ Dr. Wilson Contract ] [ Dr. Wilson Introduction ] [ Dr. Wilson Profile ]

This site owned and operated by Raymond K. Duncan, it is not associated with or run by the Poughkeepsie City School District.  Click here to read the privacy and usage policy for PoughkeepsieSchools.info

Send mail to admin@poughkeepsieschools.info with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Raymond K. Duncan
Last modified: September 28, 2010