SILVER CREEK - The wait is over and the results are in as the Silver Creek Board of Education announced the appointment of its new superintendent at Wednesday's meeting.
Daniel Ljiljanich, previously a principal at Williamsville South High School, was unanimously appointed by the board.
"We are happy and excited to welcome Mr. Daniel Ljiljanich as our new superintendent of schools," board President Matt Bogosian said. "We are thrilled to have him in the district."
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OBSERVER Photo by Nicole Gugino
The Silver Creek Board of Education announced the appointment of Daniel Ljiljanich as the new superintendent Wednesday’s meeting.
Ljiljanich said he is happy to be chosen and the district's reputation was what attracted him to the job.
"I just want to first start by humbly thanking the board. I'm going to guess you probably know how lucky you are with a board of education like this. The experience I've had with them showed that they showed a great deal of professionalism, certainly representing Silver Creek exceptionally well. I want you to know this board has a reputation outside of the district as just being very fair, passing budgets and certainly meant a lot to me as I considered applying here," he said.
He added he is prepared for the challenges the district faces.
"I'll tell you we have a lot of challenges, obviously, and not one of us can face them alone. The New York state reform agenda is overwhelming, I think, but I can tell you we are going to get through it together. I can't tell you how excited I am to be out here ... everything I've heard about the district has been great things so I'm excited to be joining you hopefully for a very long time," he said.
He will start in his new position with the district July 1 at an annual salary of $138,000.
Ljiljanich received his bachelor's degree from SUNY Fredonia, his master's from University of Buffalo and his administrative certification from Canisius College. He previously taught social studies at Tonawanda and Orchard Parch schools and was the president of the Orchard Park Teachers Association for many years.
He lives in Williamsville with his wife and three children.
In other business:
The board approved the Silver Creek Teachers Association four-year contract, which after two years of negotiation will save the district more than $500,000 over the next two years. Concessions by faculty include increased payment of insurance premiums from 15 to 25 percent, suspending the stipend for continuing education courses, although these will still be required and no salary increase for two years. The district agreed to a one-time incentive at retirement for improved teacher attendance and 50 percent increase in the district's contribution to the teacher health flex plan. Interim Superintendent David Kurzawa said it is a "win-win" for students, teachers and the district.
Elementary Superintendent Scott Rudnicki discussed character education with the board. He explained it is more of setting expectations for students like trustworthiness, caring, respect, responsibility, fairness and citizenship, than rules which only tell students what not to do. He also discussed new scheduling for the elementary school which can be printed and will look more like a high school schedule with subject blocks. He said both of these will be discussed more with parents in newsletters and at the open house.
Janet Arnold, Silver Creek Teachers Association President of 5 years, attended her last meeting as president and passed the torch to new president Kevin Rice, a high school English teacher.
The board approved tenure appointments for teachers Cheryl Smith, Brittany Jahrels, Rebecca Williams, Wayne Griem, Ashley Steenberg and Lindsey Weiss as well as High School Principal James Klubek and Director of Pupil Personnel Services Lynne Gowan.
The popular elementary school Spring Thing concert will be held Friday at 9 a.m. in the high school gymnasium. This year's theme is "find me a rainbow" with songs about colors.
The next board meeting will be held June 27.
