Community News

     Former Pembroke superintendent of schools, Gary Mix, has been appointed as the Oswego City School District interim superintendent of schools.

     The Oswego City School District Board of Education unanimously approved the appointment at the June 18 regular meeting.

     "I am very pleased and excited to become a part of the Oswego City School District educational community," Mix said. "My approach to my responsibilities will not be to be a 'placeholder" or to keep the superintendent's seat 'warm' for the next superintendent. I want to contribute to implementation of effective practices that enhance outstanding student performance as well as a common vision for the future of our district."

     In his previous positions, Mix has provided the momentum for impressive improvement.

     "During the course of my tenure as superintendent of schools in Pembroke, we were successful in establishing a team approach that allowed our students performance to consistently and significantly improve," he pointed out. "With everyone working together, we were able to move from being in the bottom third of Genesee County to be ranked as the highest performing school district in our three county area."

     Continuing, he noted, "As an educational team we were able to establish a tight and consistent focus on our prioritized action plan that resulted in success being earned and celebrated by students, parents, faculty, staff, administration, board of education and community members."

     There will be priorities that Mix said he will be focusing on.
     "I will be seeking input to ensure that we have correctly identified the most urgent needs. I believe that well intentioned people, working together can develop solutions to most challenges and issues."

     He also noted, "After reviewing considerable data on the district some areas that I anticipate having discussions about would be academic procedures that might have an impact on four year graduation rates and sub-group categories on state assessments. But to be clear these are topics that most school districts review and discuss on an annual basis. We want a mindset that we are never satisfied and that we are continually striving for excellence."

     Christopher Todd, Oswego BOCES District Superintendent, has been assisting the Oswego Board of Education with a search for a new superintendent. The effort is currently underway to proceed with seeking a replacement for current superintendent of schools William Crist. It is anticipated that the applications will be submitted by Aug. 30 and the board will move forward.

     Todd has worked with Mix in the past and said he has the utmost respect for his colleague.
     "Gary has had great successes and his focus will be on academics," he said. "In conversation and decision-making, Gary will always have the students first. What is best for the students will be his focus point."

     Oswego board of education member, Lynda Sereno, is looking forward to the continued search for a new superintendent. However, she said she is extremely satisfied with the new interim who will be leading the district.
     "We are fortunate to have Gary Mix a retired superintendent, still involved at various levels in public education, and who throughout his career has demonstrated transformational leadership skills to support our on-going efforts to bring Oswego back to a district of excellence," Sereno said.

     Sereno noted that the process is moving forward and explained, "By hiring an interim Superintendent it allows the Board of Education and Stakeholders time to seek out an outstanding educational leader to fill the position of Superintendent of Schools here in Oswego."

     Most recently, Mix has been involved in professional project work involving the New York State Professional Performance Review for superintendents and principals of the 22 component school districts for Genesee Valley Project Partnership.

     Previously, he served for 10 years as superintendent of schools for the Pembroke Central School District in Corfu, N.Y.; was principal at Albion High School; a junior-senior high school principal at Mt. Morris; as well several other educational positions.

     Mix will commence his duties in the Oswego City School District Tuesday, July 2.