Hilton Board of Education appoints interim supervisor

At its regular meeting February 10, the Hilton Central School District Board of Education approved the appointment of C. Tod Eagle, currently District Superintendent for Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES, as interim superintendent effective July 7. Eagle will be retiring from BOCES in July and will replace the current interim superintendent, Josephine S. Kehoe, Ed.D., whose contract will expire June 30, 2004.

After discussion at the January 10 meeting, the Hilton Board decided to extend the timeline for a superintendent search to replace former superintendent John Cooper who retired in November 2003. Factors cited were the difficulty of finding qualified candidates due to the nature of the highly competitive search; the need to involve all stakeholders in the selection process; the time needed to adequately publicize the search; and considerations regarding the optimum time to bring a new superintendent on board. "An extended search will have the greatest chance of pulling the most qualified candidates into the pool," Board President David Fisher said. "As a district we are in an excellent position to extend the search. All educational, fiscal and support service initiatives are going forward under the Excellence in Student Learning Plan. I am confident that Tod's knowledge of the Hilton District, his outstanding leadership in the county and state, as well as his familiarity with the superintendent search process will serve us well through this transition."

Eagle, 55, is a Glens Falls, New York native and has been a superintendent for 21 years: 10 years at Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES and as superintendent of schools at both Red Jacket School District and Jamestown City School District where he was named "New York State Superintendent of the Year" in 1991. "I am looking forward to working with children and staff in Hilton," Eagle said. "One focus, one community, will be a change from the nine component districts here at BOCES."

Eagle performed two prior superintendent searches for the Hilton School District as part of his responsibilities at BOCES. He is a resident of Clarkson.