School hires new business manager

SARANAC LAKE - A replacement has been selected for Saranac Lake Central School District Assistant Superintendent Dan Bower. Bower attended his last school board meeting Wednesday night, before starting a new job in Tupper Lake.

Cynthia Moody, of Saranac Lake, was chosen as the new business executive for the district. She is currently a business manager for Franklin-Essex-Hamilton Board of Cooperative Education Services, working with the Elizabethtown and Willsboro school districts, according to Superintendent Diane Fox. Before that she was the village of Saranac Lake's treasurer from 2003 to 2008.

Four candidates were interviewed for the position over a period of two days at the end of last week. Moody was picked last Thursday. She will start working for the district on Sept. 22. Her starting salary will be $76,000.

What made Moody stand out as the best choice for the school district?

"She had two pieces that really moved her to the top of the list," Fox said. "She has experience doing this, and people knew her. Sometimes that's a double-edged sword when people know you, but Cynthia's reputation preceded her and no matter who you spoke to they had things to say about her work ethic, her ability to work with groups, her dedication to her job."

There will be some internal movements inside the administrative office by the beginning of the school year. The current treasurer will retire at the end of the month. An employee who has been handling payroll duties for the district will take over the treasurer position, and payroll will be picked up by BOCES.

Because Bower was an assistant superintendent, he could be assigned more responsibilities. In his absence, some supervision responsibilities will be tweaked in the administrative office, Fox said.

"We had some support staff, supervisors who were working closely with Dan on the day to day," Fox said. "I still did their formal supervision, but they did a lot of their day-to-day stuff with Dan. That will come over into my office."

Bower resigned in June. He decided to take an offer to replace Garry Lanthier, business manager for Tupper Lake Central School District, who is retiring. Bower has lived in Tupper Lake for 16 years.

His official last day is at the end of the month, but he will likely return to help train his replacement in September.

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School hires new business manager