By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Central School Board of Education is moving ahead with its search for a new superintendent but will wait until their March meeting to set the calendar for placing ads and setting application deadlines.

But current Superintendent Pat Brady, who is leaving Potsdam to lead Massena schools, said he and the board plan to have a new chief in place in Potsdam in a matter of months.

“The goal is to have the new superintendent in place by the start of the new school year,” Brady said.

The search was discussed at the school board meting Tuesday night.

The next board meeting will be on March 10, when St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Superintendent Tom Burns “will facilitate the time line, including advertising, and help finalize the process” for implementation of the search, Brady said.

The district has been working with BOCES on a recruiting brochure, a list of places to advertise, and other aspects of the recruitment.

The board approved the brochure at its Tuesday night meeting.

It contains an outline of “Candidate Characteristics”:

“The Potsdam Central School District is seeking an experienced educational leader committed to leading the district in continued attainment of excellence. The following characteristics have been identified as vital for the new superintendent:

• Demonstrate improvement of student achievement; able to develop, implement, and assess academic plans; and able to demonstrate how they have developed and used data to improve instruction.

• Understanding and ability to communicate the district’s financial condition and direction, with experience developing a school district budget, and engaging stakeholders in establishing budgetary priorities.

• Ability to communicate effectively with the Board of Education. Experience developing and implementing district wide communication strategies and can show evidence of strong communication skills with parents and the community.

• Demonstrate the effective implementation of the Common Core standards and Annual Professional Performance Reviews.

• Ability to lead the collective negotiation process for employee contracts”

The brochure and recruiting advertising will be distributed widely around the state in an effort to find the best candidate.