There’ll be a new voice in the hallways at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School this fall.
That voice will belong to new principal Alan Gonzalez, who is leaving his job as assistant principal of the Fieldstone Secondary School in the North Rockland Central School District in Rockland County to take the post. He officially begins his new job on Aug. 1.
At a meeting on July 5, the Hyde Park Central School District Board of Education voted in favor of appointing Gonzalez as principal to replace Julie Linton. The board accepted Linton’s resignation in April, effective June 30. Linton was principal at the high school the last two years.
Debra Frangk, president of the high school’s Parents, Teachers and Students Association, said this week that a principal search committee consisting of 16 people reviewed a list of candidates before deciding on Gonzalez in June. The committee, she said, was comprised of district parents, faculty members and administrators.
When the principal position opened up, Frangk said, about 25 individuals applied. Frangk added that the district’s administration narrowed the list to the four most “viable” candidates for the committee to review.
She said the committee felt Gonzalez was the right person for the job in a school that had its share of problems in the 2004-05 school year.
In March, a fight between up to 10 students in the building resulted in the arrest of four. The conflict stemmed from a drug deal that went wrong, according to Hyde Park Police Officer Paul Caccia, the school resource officer.
Moved through ranks
“He (Gonzalez) has the right focus on discipline, but will make the school a place where people want to be,” Frangk said. “He is a guy with a very high energy level. He is very enthusiastic.”
Principal Frank Parrino of the Fieldstone Secondary School said this week that FDR High is fortunate to have him.
“I’m happy for him because he deserves it,” Parrino said of Gonzalez. “I’m sad to see him leave our building. He will be missed by the teachers and the support staff here.”
According to Parrino, Gonzalez began his employment with the North Rockland Central School District as a special education teacher. He then served as principal of North Rockland High School for roughly five years and then served as an assistant principal at the Fieldstone Secondary School during the 2004-05 school year.
Gonzalez is coming to FDR High from a school of similar size. FDR has a student enrollment of roughly 1,400-1,500 students, compared to nearly 1,300 at Fieldstone.
“He seems to be a pleasant person who is open and receptive,” Hyde Park Board of Education Trustee Dan Duffy said of Gonzalez this week. “I think personality-wise, he is a good fit.”
Gonzalez, Duffy said, comes to Hyde Park to work at the high school “a few days” a week in the afternoon to get acquainted with his new environment.
“He’s getting a feel for the building,” Duffy said.
Gonzalez will start work as principal, a year-round position, on a probationary period from Aug. 1, 2005, to July 31, 2008, when he would be eligible for tenure. He will make an annual salary of $108,296.