Clintondale board approves interviews for six superintendent candidates

The Clintondale Board of Education voted 5–1 to extend interviews to six superintendent candidates after board members tallied letters representing preferences from a 26-person applicant pool.

"The motion to extend interviews to b, h, a, c, f, and x is approved," President Maynard announced after the roll call. The motion was moved by President Maynard and supported by Trustee Wilson; Treasurer Powers cast the lone no vote.

The decision followed a public tally process in which each board member read the letter codes they supported and consultant John Silveri summarized which letters had the most mentions. The president said the selected pool reflects members' preferences and the consultant's review of the submissions.

Debate before the vote included questions about possible personal relationships between board members and one candidate (identified in the packet as candidate A). Treasurer Powers urged additional disclosure and proposed a friendly amendment to remove the contested candidate from the interview list; the chair declined that amendment and the original motion proceeded to a vote.

The board’s packet listed the six letters that will advance; the board did not release candidate names in the meeting record. The vote outcome was 5 yes, 1 no. President Maynard said McDowell (the secretary) would be excused for the remainder of the meeting.