Irvington Names Mary Flynn-Maguire as Interim Dows Lane Principal

Less than one month ago, two-year Dows Lane principal Renay Sadis announced her resignation, leaving the district in somewhat of a bind.

"It is notoriously difficult to find a suitable candidate during the summer," John Dawson, Board of Education president, said during Tuesday's meeting. "We chose to go with an interim principal for next year so that we could conduct a comprehensive search."

In a public meeting Tuesday, Irvington's Board of Education voted to approve Mary Flynn-Maguire as interim principal for Dows Lane Elementary School. 

Flynn-Maguire comes to Irvington after retiring in 2008 from her position as principal in the Katonah-Lewisboro Elementary School.  Before serving there for 12 years, Flynn-Maguire had been assistant principal in both the Easton-Redding and Port Chester school districts.

"Given her strong resume, we are hoping Dr. Flynn-Maguire can give us good advice for the direction of the school during her year here," Dawson said. "We're counting on a nothing-to-lose attitude on her part, so that she'll be honest in her critique."

Though not present at Tuesday's meeting—her husband had just undergone foot surgery--Flynn-Maguire echoed Dawson's desires.

"I do not want next year to be a stagnant school year at Dows Lane," she said. "Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a very caring person, but not a push-over. I am very direct with people, though not in a shooting-between-the-eyes kind of way."

Flynn-Maguire said she had been a "happy retiree," during the last two years, but she missed daily interaction with children.

" I thought this opportunity in Irvington was too good to pass up," she said. "I got a good deal of traveling out of my blood and now am so excited to be working with young children again."

While nearly everyone was pleased with the outcome of what could have been a disaster for Irvington Schools—it's illegal for a New York public school to open without an administrator—some members of the board were less pleased with the process by which the interim principal was chosen.

Because Sadis' resignation came so abruptly—even the school board did not know until moments before the last meeting—it was decided by a straw poll that Superintendent Kathleen Matusiak would have free reign to select the best candidate.  At the time, all members of the board were amenable to relinquishing power to Matusiak.

Soon after, that changed.

"I agreed with Dr. Matusiak on day one," Robyne Camp, a member of the board said. "But after talking to people in the community, I felt there should be more outside involvement in the decision."

Both Camp and freshman board member James McCann expressed feelings of disenfranchisement, with McCann saying he had e-mailed administrators for more details on the candidates and received no response.

"I was rebuffed," he said.

Former board president, and now vice president, Robyn Kerner supported the original decision saying, "It's important to keep in mind that we have never formed a committee to select an interim administrator."

Adding, "Hiring an interim principal will allow the district time to have even more open forums next year to find out exactly what we need."

The school board plans to hold discussion groups for parents and teachers and also to use another anonymous opinion-gauging mechanism such as "Survey Monkey" to garner as much community input as possible.

The majority of Irvington residents present at the meeting seemed more relieved than anything else that a possible catastrophe had been averted, but questions arose as to why Irvington has such a high turn-over rate among administrators.

"We need to look at why so many people leave the district after so few years," Della Lenz, a district parent, said. "Are we really that awful?"

Agreeing that lack of administrative stability can be damaging to young students, parent Susan Stern said, "I feel it takes a good five years for a principal to truly get to know the school and make it the best it can be. I feel badly Renay [Sadis] was here only two years; I hope the next full-time candidate we find will be here for the long run."

Though Flynn-Maguire will undoubtedly not be the long-term principal Stern hopes to find, she is confident she will help the Dows Lane community through the upcoming transition year.

"I am honored to have been chosen," Flynn-Maguire said. "I will be moving forward with all initiatives the district has put in place and will work to create a collaborative learning environment. I may not be perfect, but I have a lot of experience and am very good at my job."