ELIN P. SULLIVAN President   PAULA C. KUMAR Vice President   JASON R. BLACK    DR. CARMELO COMBERIATI  BRAD R. SACKS

 MARK SLIVKA  SUSAN ELION WOLLIN

Dear Staff, Parents and Community Members:

The Board of Education takes great pleasure in announcing that we have selected Dr. Debra Jackson as Bedford's new Superintendent of Schools. Currently the superintendent of the North Salem Central School District, Dr. Jackson will officially assume her duties on July 1, 2004, succeeding Dr. Bruce Dennis, who is retiring after twelve years of valued service to the district.

Dr. Jackson's selection is the final step in a five-month process in which our consultants, Hazard Young Attea and Associates, of Glenview, Illinois, screened fifty-six applicants from twenty-one different states. Using the criteria assembled from their interviews with Bedford staff and community last October, the consultants recommended four individuals to be interviewed by the Board. Following an initial set of meetings, the Board brought back three candidates for more extended interviews, including a meeting with an advisory committee comprised of staff and parent representatives. Dr. Jackson emerged ultimately as the Board's clear and unanimous choice, and we are delighted that she has accepted our offer to serve as our new educational leader.

Dr. Jackson, who is 49 years old, brings an array of impressive professional and personal credentials to this new position. She received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Manhattanville College and her doctorate from Fordham University. She began her twenty-six year career in public education as an art teacher in the Monroe-Woodbury School District and has served as an elementary school principal and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Professional Development in Marlboro, New York, as well as Superintendent for four years in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, prior to her eight years as Superintendent of the North Salem Central Schools.

Through all stages of this process, the Board has been impressed by Dr. Jackson's enthusiasm, dedication, intelligence, and broad-based background, strengths also attested to by those with whom she has worked. We believe she is best suited to bring the visionary and creative leadership our district will continue to need to meet the wide range of challenges we will face in the coming years, including the ability to make our schools more challenging for all students and faculty, and to recognize, recruit and retain talent at all levels of the system. We are thankful to Dr. Dennis for his pledge to assist in any way possible to ensure Dr. Jackson's successful transition, including her direct involvement in the selection of four new principals over the coming few months.

Dr. Jackson will be present at the Board of Education meeting this evening to be formally introduced to the community. On Thursday and Friday, February 26 and 27, Dr. Dennis will be introducing Dr. Jackson to staff in the various buildings during school visits across the district. In addition, Dr. Jackson will be available to meet informally with parents, faculty and community members on Thursday evening, February 26, from 7:30-9 p.m., in the Fox Lane Middle School library, and on Friday afternoon, February 27, from 12-1:30 p.m., in the Central Office conference room on the Fox Lane campus. Please join us in making Dr. Jackson feel welcome.

Sincerely,



Elfin P. Sullivan President