Fort Lee Board of Education officials Tuesday issued a letter to parents of children in the school district assuring them that the BOE is “committed to actively seeking the best-qualified and most capable candidate for the position of Superintendent” in the wake of current Superintendent Raymond Bandlow’s recent resignation.

Bandlow will leave the Fort Lee School District on Oct. 31 to assume the duties of Superintendent in Beacon, N.Y.

“Please be assured that as a Board, we take this responsibility with utmost seriousness,” the letter, which is signed by board president Arthur Levine and vice president Linda McCue, states. “We are all aware of the challenges our district faces, as well as the opportunities we could be maximizing. We will strive to find the right person that can capitalize on the progress already made to build a bridge between the present and where we envision the district in the future.”

The letter goes on to tout successes in the school district, such as Fort Lee High School ranking its “highest in recent memory," most schools in the district achieving Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and improving test scores in spite of “a significant growth in overall district enrollment and a change in our demographic categories in student population.”

“Therefore, we need to continue to tweak the initiatives we have in place, and not engage in any major paradigm changes,” the letter concludes. “What we are doing as a district is working. We have realized the importance of utilizing the talents and successes of our current staff to help move our district forward.”

Levine told Patch Tuesday that plans haven’t been finalized for the immediate replacement of Bandlow and therefore declined to provide details, but he said the BOE should be able to announce its plans at their next regular business meeting Monday, pending an agenda meeting, which takes place Wednesday.

“Nothing is perfect,” Levine said. “But we think that [the district is] going in the right direction so I don’t want any agents of change from the outside … we have the programs; we may need to tweak things. But there’s a lot of good stuff that’s going on, and some of the stuff that’s not good, we’re going to continue to fix.”

Levine also confirmed that the BOE is in the process of developing another, significantly scaled-back referendum that will cover major infrastructure repairs and renovations to labs, media rooms, libraries and other such facilities.

“But again, no new schools,” he said.

Levine added that while he can’t say for certain before the agenda is finalized Wednesday, he believes the referendum issue, along with the superintendent replacement plan, will be on Monday’s regular business meeting agenda, though he cautioned that “anything can change.”

He said the BOE plans to release the meeting agenda Friday.

The entire text of the BOE’s letter to parents released Tuesday is as follows:

September 20, 2011

Dear Parents,

As some of you may be aware, Dr. Bandlow has resigned from his position as Superintendent of Fort Lee Schools and will leave the district on Oct. 31 to take over as Superintendent in Beacon, New York.  Dr. Bandlow contributed his many talents to our district over the last several years, and while we are disappointed he is leaving us, we wish him well in his new position.

With the smooth opening of our schools this September and everyone back to business as usual, we are excited as a relatively new Board to come together and focus our efforts on one of the most important functions this Board can perform, namely the appointment of the Superintendent of Schools.  We are committed to actively seeking the best-qualified and most capable candidate for the position of Superintendent. 

Please be assured that as a Board, we take this responsibility with utmost seriousness.  We are all aware of the challenges our district faces, as well as the opportunities we could be maximizing.   We will strive to find the right person that can capitalize on the progress already made to build a bridge between the present and where we envision the district in the future.  Currently Fort Lee High School’s ranking is the highest in recent memory.  All of our schools, sans the middle school, have achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).  Our test scores are improving despite a significant growth in overall district enrollment and a change in our demographic categories in student population. Therefore, we need to continue to tweak the initiatives we have in place, and not engage in any major paradigm changes.  What we are doing as a district is working.

We have realized the importance of utilizing the talents and successes of our current staff to help move our district forward. We have lost some wonderful teachers and administrators to other districts and we do not want to see this happen again. This will all be considered when choosing a replacement for Dr. Bandlow. As we head down this road, we have full confidence that the preparation our Administrators and Principals have made for the 2011-2012 school year will enable a seamless transition to a new Superintendent.  Until then, please do not hesitate to attend our public Board Meetings (see enclosed schedule) where we will keep you informed as to the progress of our search.

Sincerely,

Arthur Levine, President

Linda McCue, Vice President