Saranac Lake School District Superintendent Abruptly Leaves

Scott Amo, Superintendent of the Saranac Lake School District, is leaving in October to become Superintendent of the Beekmantown School District.

This is not surprising for a couple of reasons. First, Amo's wife is a principle at a Plattsburgh school. Amo cuts his "commute" time down drastically by obtaining a job closer to Plattsburgh. Amo, like previous superintendents, was hired by Saranac Lake with the condition that he reside in the District. The current school board cut him quite a bit of slack by ignoring the residency condition.

Second, the Saranac Lake School District is becoming a well known district for new superintendents to get experience or for superintendents needing a medium-term "interim" position.

It's not clear how much time remains on Amo's current contract with the SLCSD. Not that it really matters. Superintendents contracts only work one way. It provides them with job security and does nothing for the District if the Superintendent decides to break the contract and move on to another school district. But good luck to Mr. Amo. I hope he can get along better with the Beekmantown School Board than the previous superintendent. And, thank-you Mr. Amo for leaving at the beginning of a new school year. That was very professional of you.

Now who will replace Amo at the SLCSD? Let's forget about an "interim" superintendent. Saranac Lake has a very, very well qualified and experienced principle and administrator currently working for the District. He is a lifetime resident of Saranac Lake and lives in the District. He was a candidate during the last superintendent search.

It's time for the District residents and taxpayers to rise up and insist that our School Board immediately hire Mr. Patrick Hogan, current Principle of the Bloomingdale School, as our next District Superintendent.

UPDATE: The School Board has hired Mr. John Raymond as interim superintendent.