Elmsford superintendent Marc Baiocco to take top post in Clarkstown school district
Marc P. Baiocco, the current superintendent of Elmsford schools, will join Clarkstown as its top administrator July 1.
"“It’s a bittersweet thing to leave Elmsford after 13 years,” Baiocco said Wednesday. “I’ve had so many great relationships. Now I’m excited to make new relationships in Clarkstown. I’ll join that family and we’ll grow together.”
Clarkstown has been operating with an acting interim superintendent – administrator Jeff Sobel – since September 2021. Clarkstown's superintendent of schools, Martin Cox, left the district then after a series of conflicts in the community over policies related to COVID safety and education protocols and how diversity, equity and inclusion issues should be handled in the school community.
Baiocco has been Elmsford superintendent since 2017. Prior to that, he served as principal of the district's Alexander Hamilton High School. Prior to that, he was a teacher and high school assistant principal in Yonkers.
"His hard work and dedication to Elmsford will be missed," said Melanie Johnson, president of the Elmsford PTSA. "We wish him the best on his future ventures."
Baiocco was due to attend Clarkstown school board's meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Clarkstown South High School.
COVID, DEI, BLM
Schools around the state and nation have been navigating through complex and often controversial situations for more than two years: COVID shutdowns, the rapid adaptation of distance learning, and cultural competency challenges in the wake of social justice demonstrations and demands after the killing of George Floyd.
Clarkstown superintendent out: Cox resigns after flap over BLM presentation, mask rules
Elmsford school board: Raucous meeting filled with name-calling, shouts to speak English
School elections: Fiery rhetoric against equity initiatives mostly fizzles at polls
Elmsford, a diverse district with a majority Latino student population, has been hit with complaints about racially insensitivity by staff toward students. A complaint was filed with the state Department of Education in 2019, according to a Channel 12 News report. State officials could not immediately provide details about any complaints or investigations focusing on Elmsford Central School District.
In Clarkstown, Cox drew ire over decisions, or non-decisions, on issues from diversity education to how students would be taught if more COVID quarantines were needed.
His decision to shelve an eighth-grade slideshow about the Black Lives Matter movement last spring split the community, with those who likened the decision to censorship and others who were upset that the topic would have been addressed in the first place.
Diversity, equity and inclusion issues remain a flashpoint in Clarkstown. In the recent school board election, candidates who support strong DEI guidelines for the district won.
Baiocco said he would “tailor a program that is right for the community.”
“It’s about building a DEI platform in the likeness of the community, and also unpacking what each of those words really mean," Baiocco said. "You want to look at the equity piece in terms of making all classes available to all students, all opportunities available to all students."
The father of three added, "The inclusion part is personal to me. I wouldn’t want my kid to feel excluded. I don’t want any student to be missed, to feel excluded.”
When Cox's departure was announced at a Sept. 14 school board meeting, cheers erupted from the audience in Clarkstown High School South's auditorium.
Districts by the numbers
Elmsford, with about 950 students, according to 2020-2021 state data, is 62% Latino or Hispanic; 20% Black and 8% white.
Clarkstown, with nearly 7,700 students, is 56% white; 23% Latino or Hispanic; and 5% Black.
Clarkstown has a 95% four-year graduation rate; Elmsford's four-year graduation rate is 89%.
The Clarkstown board hired McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C., Executive Recruitment to help with the search.
In its invitation for superintendent applications, Clarkstown stated that it was seeking "A decisive leader with a record of building consensus and support among diverse stakeholder groups."
District officials said they received 29 applications from various states.
In a story published in 2018 by lohud.com, Baiocco's compensation was listed at $225,000.
The separation agreement gave Cox a $408,745 payout – the equivalent of about 18 months’ salary.
Cox’s base salary for the 2021-2022 school year was $270,097. A district spokesman had not immediately provided Baiocco's salary for the Clarkstown post. A story published in 2018 by lohud.com listed Baiocco's compensation at $225,000.
Cox joined the district in February 2016 with a five-year contract. The board had extended his contract twice since then.
Jeff Sobel, assistant superintendent of personnel, has been serving as acting superintendent.
Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Elmsford school superintendent moving to Clarkstown New York
