On Tuesday, April 21 the Hicksville School District Board of Education unanimously appointed Dr. Carl Bonuso the district’s new Superintendent of Schools. His contract will run July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2018.
“During the past several months, as the search process unfolded, it became increasingly evident that Dr. Bonuso possessed the superior qualities the Board of Education was seeking to lead the Hicksville School District and students to the next level of excellence,” stated Board of Education President Phil Heckler. “As interim superintendent, Dr. Bonuso has clearly embraced our community as his own and has demonstrated through his professional leadership and vision, enthusiasm and interaction with our children, personal integrity and commitment to our goals that he is without a doubt the unanimous choice of the Board of Education as our next superintendent of Schools.”
This appointment concludes an extensive superintendent search, which began in September 2014. School Leadership LLC., the professional consultants who conducted the search, collaborated with the district’s major stakeholders—including nearly 100 community residents and district members—to develop the key specifications that guided the entire search process. The research established that the community and district members wanted an intelligent, currently informed educator with strong classroom teaching and administrative experience, someone who utilized a collaborative approach to decision-making, a successful school district leader who was a visionary and innovative advocate for all students, an experienced administrator with a record of success in maximizing programs and services within increasingly scarce fiscal resources, a superior communicator with interpersonal skills who led in a visible and approachable manner and an experienced proven educational leader who inspired trust and confidence in the school district, staff and programs.
“I am grateful to the Board of Education for the confidence they have expressed in me to serve as your next superintendent,” stated Bonuso. “During these past few months as interim superintendent I have had the privilege and pleasure to work closely with the Board of Education, administrators, staff, students, parents and community residents and to experience first-hand the professionalism and daily commitment to doing what is in the best interest of our children. I look forward to continuing to work together on behalf of the children we love, support and serve.”
Prior to joining the Hicksville School District, Bonuso served as the superintendent for the Wantagh School District and as the interim Superintendent of Schools for the Sag Harbor School District. Bonuso is an award-winning veteran administrator and educator and has been a guiding force in educational excellence and collaborative leadership. He is a well-known and highly recognized educator and has written numerous articles on topics ranging from “School/Business Partnerships,” to the “Image of a Leader,” which appeared in such journals as Kappan, Psychology Today and Today’s Education. He has led training workshops and presented both locally and nationally about areas such as the new APPR mandates, effective schools research, creating a positive work environment, effective supervision of instruction and shared leadership/decision making. In addition, Bonuso has served as an adjunct professor at Dowling College and SUNY Stony Brook, and is the former editor-in-chief of the highly regarded peer-reviewed journal Long Island Educational Review.
