Tonawanda City Schools Superintendent Whitney Vantine submitted his retirement papers to the Board of Education following its meeting Tuesday night, with his last day coming Oct. 17.
Vantine is expected to tell district staff and faculty about his retirement this morning.
Tonawanda School Board President Jackie Smilinich said the board was surprised by the move.
“I wished him the best,” she said. “I’m retired, and retirement is great.”
Smilinich hopes the district can find a new superintendent by Vantine’s last day without using someone in an interim capacity. She said Donald Ogilvie, district superintendent of Erie 1 BOCES, will conduct the search for a new superintendent.
“I hope our search is productive, and I hope we can find somebody to lead us into the future,” Smilinich said.
Vantine, 57, has served in several districts across the state, including the Lewiston-Porter and Cold Springs districts, before coming to Tonawanda in July 2008.
His time as Tonawanda superintendent has seen many physical changes to the district, including the closure of Highland Elementary School in 2009 and the voter approval of an $11.9 million capital project in the same year that will result in a new Clint Small Stadium at the Tonawanda High/Middle School campus, as well as a new entrance to the building, by next year.
Vantine’s announcement came as administrators are looking to reform a long-range community task force to help decide the future of the community’s schools.
Officials in the district, including the superintendent, discussed Tonawanda’s falling enrollment during Tuesday night’s meeting. Vantine said Tonawanda had about 2,400 students in 2000, a number that fell to 1,847 last year. According to current figures for the upcoming school year, the latter number will fall by about more 20 students.
Vantine estimated district enrollment would be about 1,600 by 2020.
“The district continues to compress itself. It’s getting hard and harder to balance those numbers out,” said Vantine, who provided his retirement letter in executive session at the end of the board meeting and could not be reached to comment on the matter afterward.
Once up and running, the community task force will study the district’s current system and help devise a plan for the future.
Several of Tonawanda’s buildings are likely to be discussed, including the district’s former Central School building on Broad Street.
The district previously formed a long-range task force in 2009, after the surprise closure of Highland Elementary. The committees looked at a variety of topics in the district, including enrollment projections. Their recommendations made up many of the initiatives in the district’s current $11.9 million capital project.