UPDATE School board names Willis as new superintendent

James Willis, currently the superintendent of the Utica schools, has been named as the new superintendent of the Peekskill School District.

Willis was given a four-year contract by the school board with a first-year salary of $230,000 in 2011-12.

At Utica, Willis created a five-year plan for the district, implemented a new comprehensive K-12 ELA curriculum, promoted student learning and academic achievement, and oversaw $187 million in capital projects.

The Utica City School District is a highly diverse district of 10,000 students in nine elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.  

Prior to taking the helm in Utica, Mr. Willis was assistant superintendent for human resources in the South Country Central School District, and assistant superintendent for human resources and administration in South Orangetown Central School District.

Prior to teaching, Willis had a distinguished business career, holding management positions at SYSCO and Citibank. In addition, he has many years of active duty leadership experience as a Marine Corps officer.

His appointment was made at the Peekskill School Board meeting Tuesday, April 12 and takes effect on July 11.

He replaces Judith Johnson, who retired from the district in December following a seven-year tenure. Interim Superintendent Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli has overseen the district since Johnson’s retirement.

“At the beginning of the search process, we asked our community to identify the qualities that were critically important for our next superintendent to possess,” said Board president Michael Simpkins. “Our constituents, through surveys, emails, phone calls, and focus groups, asked us to look for an individual who is a visionary instructional leader,  a visible and accessible communicator and a strong administrator.

“In James Willis, our Board has found a leader for Peekskill who possesses all these qualities and whose experience and talents make him ideally suited to lead our district in these challenging times,” Simpkins said.

Willis began his career in education by teaching social studies and English in the Odessa-Montour Central School District, and he has also served as an adjunct professor of curriculum development at Elmira College.

A graduate of SUNY Cortland, Willis has an M.S. degree in education from Elmira College and a doctoral degree in progress from Nova Southeastern University, as well as extensive academic coursework. He and his wife have four children.

The Peekskill Board of Education has, under the direction of Interim Superintendent Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli, adopted a task force process to study and plan Peekskill’s educational and operational priorities in the coming years.

According to Board President Simpkins, “We are confident that Jim Willis is the right person to lead us in bringing to fruition the goals and expectations that we have set forth in our 2011-2012 Educational Plan and budget, on which we are already collaborating. Together, we will design the best possible educational future for Peekskill’s children.”

Following his appointment, Willis will visit all of Peekskill’s schools in the next few months before taking up his new responsibilities in July.