WEIGHING IN - In a brief three-minute speech on the July 2021 afternoon when Anibal Soler, Jr. introduced himself to the community, the Schenectady City School District’s new superintendent tripped up when it came time to declare Schenectady as his home.
“I’m excited to call Schenectady, you know, home for the foreseeable future,” Soler, then 44, sputtered during otherwise assured remarks about the collaborative, community-focused approach he intended to bring to the role.
Soler’s noncommittal tone seems especially relevant given this past week’s news about Schenectady’s dynamic, bilingual superintendent being a finalist in the Yonkers Public Schools’ superintendent search. If Soler gets the job to lead the Westchester County district with more than 22,000 students, he will likely leave Schenectady and its roughly 10,000 students about three years after his half-hearted proclamation about this being home.
And, for whatever it’s worth, he’d leave roughly two years after buying a house in Clifton Park, rather than in Schenectady.
His tenure would be considerably shy of the 5.6-year average for New York state superintendents, according to the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
But in truth, Soler’s departure would surprise few people. A go-getter with more than two decades of education experience, including more than a decade leading city schools and school districts, Soler, who declined to talk in response to multiple Gazette requests this week, has hardly shied away from his ambitions extending beyond Schenectady.
“He was very honest,” Schenectady Federation of Teachers President Mike Silvestri said of Soler’s desire to lead a major urban district in the state. “I think it happened much faster than he or anybody else thought. But how do you turn that down?”
As Soler contemplates moving on from Schenectady two years ahead of the end of his current contract, which is currently worth some $228,000 per year in salary and extends through June 2026, the general sentiment seems not to be of anger, as when Laurence Spring bailed just as a global pandemic was taking hold, but of disappointment.
Put simply, Soler has been an excellent superintendent.
He has a history of turning districts around from “struggling” or “failing” into “good standing,” and that was a major part of why the Schenectady City School District Board of Education selected the Rochester native and former Batavia City School District superintendent in 2021 after a 14-month search process.
Though Soler has detractors, especially the Schenectady Republicans, many believe Soler’s leadership is already paying dividends.
As Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said during the 2023 mayoral election’s Democratic primary debate in June: “He's a remarkable individual. He's a driving force where he is changing the perception of that district and mapping out a plan that is going to, I believe, produce real results for the community.”
Central to that plan is the unprecedented $300 million capital project Soler and his team spearheaded, taking advantage of a strong state funding climate to spare Schenectady taxpayers unnecessary burden as the district gets a literal overhaul.
In addition to facility upgrades, Soler and his team have also been building a cultural shift, including the implementation of a community-schools model that is transforming schools into true neighborhood hubs, where families can enjoy meals, activities and helpful services into the evening.
And while student achievement is nowhere close to where it needs to be, state test scores have improved some under Soler’s administration.
But beyond Soler’s policy priorities, his intangibles impress more than anything.
“For me, it’s more about the demeanor,” said Silvestri, the union president. “You don’t ever know what’s the right decision to make or not make. But it’s about the demeanor in which you lead a district that matters the most. And I think he brought a level of humility to the position and a level of collaborativeness that we hadn’t seen.”
Far from being flush with skilled leaders prior to Soler’s arrival, Schenectady had been stuck with superintendents forced to fend off scurrilous reputations. First, it was the allegedly corrupt Eric Ely, who came under fire for failing to be less than forthcoming about – among other things – having reason to suspect a former school facilities head was placing bombs in cars. Then it was Spring, whose resignation came with a cloud of scandal, including allegations he sexually harassed district employees – claims he vehemently denies.
“In the last 20 years, we’ve had two superintendents both leave in disgrace,” Silvestri said. “So this [would be] my first time ever losing a superintendent where I wasn’t happy he was going.”
And maybe that’s what would make Soler’s exit sting all the more. It could deflate all the optimism. It could kill the momentum he’s been building.
After all, that capital project isn’t even slated to break ground until the summer, and construction is expected to last into 2030.
Where will Soler be then?
Where will Schenectady’s school district be then?
“To have to hit the restart button again two and a half years into this administration would be a huge detriment,” Justin Chaires, a Schenectady High School graduate, former teacher and state-level political candidate, and current Schenectady County NAACP vice president, told me. “There are a lot of plans that I love, but whoever comes in, it is going to be a reconnecting period, unless it’s somebody who already knows everything about the area, or if we get lucky enough to find someone who understands the job.”
Since superintendents are responsible for managing day-to-day operations, they are critically important to any district, said New York State School Boards Association spokesperson David Albert. He called hiring a superintendent a board’s “most important decision.”
Though results are mixed, some research has found a direct correlation between a superintendent’s longevity and student performance.
“It is certainly a board’s desire to have stability at the top for as long as possible just so you have that continuity in terms of leadership at the district,” Albert told me.
Boy, Schenectady could sorely use stability.
Sure, as Silvestri notes, any school district is way more than one person. But Soler’s departure would not only raise questions about how long it may take to find a suitable replacement – a process that averages 6 to 9 months, according to Robert Lowry, the deputy director of Advocacy, Research, and Communications for the New York State Council of School Superintendents. It would also raise questions about whether Soler’s stellar team – including highly regarded assistant superintendents – could leave, too.
“We need to put stability and longevity at the forefront of a search,” Silvestri said. “Bring in somebody who is happy with this team, a leader who says ‘I think we are on a good path, let’s see how things go.’”
During that brief introductory speech in July of 2021, Soler seemed to recognize the importance of consistency within school.
“For our kids, schools are the hub of normalcy in the sense that it was the one thing that was pretty constant in their lives,” Soler said.
He was talking about a return to normalcy coming out of a pandemic. But he was also acknowledging the fact that he could see the district was still reeling from failed leadership and sagging test scores and was in need of a steadying force.
“There is some healing that has to occur in this community,” Soler said that day.
Then he added clarification that now seems all-too telling. “From an outsider’s perspective, it’s obvious.”
Perhaps he was telegraphing his intentions from the outset. Perhaps he was telling the community from the very first day that he’d do what he could to help Schenectady heal, but he always intended to move on.
“In this district, you have to put that work in,” Chaires, the Schenectady NAACP vice president, told me. “It’s going to be a long-term effort.”
So should Soler ultimately decide to leave, hopefully the district’s next superintendent will be someone who truly calls Schenectady home.