MAYFIELD — Meet the new Christopher.
Christopher Clapper will fill the role of outgoing Mayfield Central School District Superintendent Christopher Harper on July 1. The Ithaca native was appointed by the school board Tuesday night under a four-year contract and a $185,000 first-year salary.
Three former school board members from Clapper’s current district drove down from Alexandria Bay just to see the appointment.
“I've never heard of multiple board members coming such a distance to wish their superintendent well,” said Mayfield Board of Education President Aaron Flynn. “It's just a testament to how lucky we are to have such an awesome candidate.”
Clapper worked his way from social studies teacher to principal of Emily Howland Elementary School in Cayuga County over the span of 14 years before becoming superintendent of the Alexandria school system in 2017.
In his current role, he helped create a literacy program, jumpstart a farm-to-table food initiative, expand its partnership with Syracuse University and open a regional CDL training facility.
Neither Harper nor Clapper responded to a request for comment on Wednesday.
"In my very first discussion with the Mayfield Board, I could sense their commitment and genuine excitement for supporting students and staff in the district,” Clapper said in a news release.
The search included a number of focus groups and an open survey throughout the district community.
Under the recommendation of search consultant Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES Superintendent David Ziskin, finalists weren’t publicly named.
Mayfield Central School on School Street, April 12, 2024.
“Those successfully leading organizations usually aren’t eager for publicity that suggests they are open to moving to a position in a different organization,” Ziskin said in an email. “Our experience has been that the best pool of candidates results when this confidential process is used.”
Neither Ziskin nor Flynn disclosed how many candidates made it to interviews by March. The search process began in October.
This marks the first search in more than a decade that an interim superintendent hasn’t served between two superintendents. During the last two searches in 2019 and 2015, Kathy Dougherty and A. Paul Scott led Mayfield in a provisional capacity.
This round, Flynn said, was the best-case scenario for the Great Sacandaga Lake region district.
“Interims are great in a lot of ways because you get a fresh set of eyes and a fresh perspective, but there's nothing better than having the new superintendent hit the ground running in July when the new school year starts,” he said.
Alexandra schools Superintendent Christopher Clapper.
Next year, if the board’s budget proposal is approved, Clapper will be at the helm of managing a $22,489,083 spending plan — a 6.23% increase from last year and 2.40% increase in the tax levy. Harper will be around for the results in May.
The sitting superintendent, who came to the district from the Unadilla Valley Central School District in New Berlin, has made it clear that he plans to return to central New York for “personal reasons,” according to Ziskin.
“We absolutely thank him for five years with the district — five challenging years, of course, with all of the things that happened around us like COVID and different things that were really outside of all schools’ control,” Flynn said. “We wish him nothing but the best.”