Paul DiFonzo

As superintendent, you have your good days and your tough days.

For Paul DiFonzo, you have your good days and then your tough days that get better when you look up news articles about student achievements.

“Not every school district has award-winning musicals and award-winning newspapers, the top Model (United Nations) school, the girls going to the sectional basketball championship, all of these things that happen on a daily basis,” DiFonzo told the OBSERVER. “Our students are doing extremely well, and they’re successful young people with bright minds and I think that’s a reflection of our entire school district and the community.”

DiFonzo said he likes to think he plays a tiny role in helping these students succeed — both in and out of the classroom — by ensuring they have opportunities.

It’s this role that he will miss so much.

The Fredonia Central School District is experiencing the end of an era. DiFonzo helmed the district for 15 years — through celebratory student victories and painful budget cuts.

Friday was the day DiFonzo never imagined would come, when he would hang up the decades-old education hat he loves so much and begin a retired man’s life.

“These last three or four weeks have been overwhelming for both me and my family,” he remarked, noting a surprise party for him did just that — surprise him. “I’m overwhelmed by the kindness, by the caring, the love that people have shown me the last three or four weeks. I’ve been blessed to be around so many good people, students, staff, parents, and I’ve had an opportunity to … help shape and guide the direction our school is heading in, and I’m going to miss being able to see the fruits of our labors.”

‘CHALLENGING, YET CONSISTENT’

DiFonzo summed up his 15-year ride as “challenging, yet consistent.” There’s always wonderful students, excellent staff members and teachers, and a goal of making sure everyone has the tools they need to succeed, he pointed out.

Those tools have sometimes been difficult to come by, however. The wheel of fortune has not always smiled upon Fredonia, DiFonzo divulged.

“Obviously, we’ve had fiscal challenges and we’ve had challenges with trying to think regionally and work with neighboring school districts,” he explained. “The reduction of student population through the course of time has taken its toll, and the bottom line is, through it all, I think we’ve still been able to provide a first-class education for students here in our district.”

While serving as middle school principal, DiFonzo decided to try for the superintendent position once it opened up. Part of the goal was to advance in his career. Another part was to be able to do even more to help students and have a positive impact on them and the community.

“Because of the quality people I have around, and because I know I need to consult with them before I make a recommendation (to the board of education), I feel like we’ve worked as a team and have been able to provide those opportunities for students that they need …,” he said. “To me, that is what we are here for.”

That, in essence, flies in the face of massive reductions in financial assistance.

For the last decade, Fredonia has had to deal with an almost-crippling loss of New York state aid. Over several years, the district lost about $8.3 million in aid.

And yet, officials persisted.

Fredonia laid anything and everything on the chopping block to examine it and figure out if it was necessary. Over time, the district was able to rightsize itself, DiFonzo stated.

Students were housed in one facility, while space at the Wheelock Primary School began to be rented out to the community for a bit of revenue. The district also looked to its neighbors to share programming, materials and services.

“We’ve been able to find a balance to continue to provide opportunities,” DiFonzo affirmed, praising the teachers, fellow administrators and staff members as exceptional. “We have students who are at the top of the class in academics; our Regents testing results in the high school have been exceptional. I think our Regents testing results have been the highest in the county for years.

“The Regents exams, to me, are a pre-k through 12(th grade) reflection, because the students are getting to the end of their line here and they’re able to still achieve at the highest level. So, I believe we’re offering a sound education from pre-k all the way through 12th grade.”

THINKING REGIONALLY

DiFonzo isn’t afraid to tell the blunt truth about area school districts — population is declining, and everyone has to combine programming and work together so students aren’t left behind and taxpayers aren’t forced to pick up the tab.

“I think our district has been a leader in regional thinking,” he remarked. “We’ve taken the steps and approached Forestville and we’ve approached Brocton, two neighboring school districts, that we thought, as a district, would be very logical and viable to merge and share opportunities for students.”

Still, too many other school leaders don’t get it. DiFonzo expressed frustration with the snail-like progress of regionalism and consolidation among school districts.

“The bottom line is our children all know each other … so why can’t we work together to combine school districts?” he asked rhetorically. “We have too few students and too many school districts, and I would say I wish I could’ve done more to make that happen.”

The working together to combine school districts will happen eventually, either in a positive, proactive fashion, or it will be forced to happen, DiFonzo warned.

“You can see the change is coming. We’re still plodding along and not taking some of the aggressive steps we need to take to make those changes happen,” he asserted. “We have to be flexible and we have to look at what are the possibilities if we do consolidate, if we do merge, and if districts start looking at that … they’re going to see that there are so many advantages to consolidating and pooling our resources, and the big winners are always the students.”

In the meantime, programming across the region will continue to decline and Fredonia will continue the delicate balance of asking for more tax revenue and living within its means.

DIFONZOS STILL AT FREDONIA

While one DiFonzo leaves the school facility, two others continue their journeys through it.

DiFonzo’s two sons are climbing the grade levels at the same school he worked at — a unique situation for a superintendent.

“I think it makes you reflective of the needs of students; my own two children have needs,” he remarked. “I know I’m responsible for thinking of the group as a whole — what’s best for the whole — but I do think having children in the school has been positive for me. It makes me realize every day how blessed we are to have such a fine teaching staff and staff in general. Their needs have been met.”

At the beginning of every school year, DiFonzo took time to thank the entire staff for treating his children so well and being their role models, and for being part of the Fredonia family themselves.

He joked he should’ve wandered down to his sons’ classrooms more often, but now that they’re older, they wander down to his office and bother him all the time.

“I’ve been associated with a number of schools through my career; I couldn’t be more pleased that my two boys are going through the Fredonia school system,” he concluded. “They have gotten the best education.”

GIVING BACK

DiFonzo said he will miss so many aspects of his job — taking part in professional discussions with staff members, stopping by the cafeteria to talk to students and seeing students stop by his office. He’ll also miss teaching a couple government classes every year.

“I’m going to miss all the interactions,” he reflected. “It’s fun working together toward a similar goal and to do so in a positive fashion.”

The now-former superintendent mentioned he does want to give back to the community he loves so much now that he has plenty of time on his hands, so people will still see him around. He pointed out he is a Rotarian and he promised he will try to make it to more meetings now (Hey, it’s in the newspaper, so he has to follow through!).

“I go to the Farm Festival … or there’s a parade for whatever activity, all the nice things we do locally in Barker Common and the concerts — I couldn’t pick a better place to raise my two children,” he summed up. “This is the kind of community that any family would want to be part of, and I feel like my two boys and my wife and I have benefited greatly from being here. Fredonia has so many great people, so many local business owners that do so many good things and give to our school all the time, and I would like to be able to give something back.”

Spoken like a true Fredonian. Happy retirement, Paul!

Email: gfox@observertoday.com. Twitter: @gfoxnews