Dan Mayberry (Provided photo)

KEENE VALLEY — Between the two of them, Cynthia Ford-Johnston and Dan Mayberry have led Keene Central School District for about three generations of students. As Mayberry departs for a new post, the school board will be searching for someone with similar dedication to their small community.

Mayberry, who will begin his new job as superintendent of Guilderland Central School District in Albany in the fall, has been superintendent for 11 years at KCSD. He moved into this role after initially being hired as principal under Ford-Johnston.

Mayberry transitioned into administrative roles after having taught seventh grade science in Lake Placid. The role in Keene was a new challenge in many ways. Administration tends to entail a little less interaction with students and more interaction with adults. As an administrator of a particularly small school, like Keene, it also meant wearing a lot of different hats.

“It’s been a fantastic learning experience,” Mayberry said. “In a small school, you just by nature of it being small, you have your hand in a lot of things, so you get to learn the entire system of the school.”

At KCSD, the superintendent role included business administration duties — a role larger school districts would employ a second person to do. He became familiar with how state aid works, also dealing with the more personell and HR-related side. Mayberry would even end up stepping in as a substitute teacher.

Cynthia Ford-Johnston (Provided photo)

About midway through his tenure, Mayberry led the district through the coronavirus pandemic, an experience that became a pivotal challenge for schools around the country. While his staff and families were supportive and cooperative, the higher-level leadership in the state was “frustrating,” Mayberry admitted.

Even so, he said the district made it through relatively unscathed. Because of their size, the school was able to get back to normal operations a bit quicker. The pandemic was definitely a learning experience, though.

“It really taught you how to be flexible on how to prepare for the unknown, because something can happen at any time,” he said. “It really changes your perspective.”

In the interim …

On June 17, the KCSD school board voted unanimously to appoint Ford-Johnston to the post of interim superintendent. Ford-Johnston served as superintendent of KCSD for 16 years prior to Mayberry’s stint of 11 years.

When she retired from that role, she meant to retire completely — but that hasn’t gone exactly as planned. In her retirement, in addition to founding and running DaCy Meadow Farm in Westport with her husband, David, Ford-Johnston has helped numerous districts as an interim superintendent.

Each district, and what they needed from her, was a little bit different, Ford-Johnston said. In some cases, she was essentially a placeholder. In others, the interim can help facilitate changes that need to be made, even providing emotional support for a district that’s struggling for one reason or another.

“You’re the person of change, which appeals to me,” she said. “I believe that if you don’t change, you are dying because you’re going backwards, because change is always part of life.”

In the case of Keene Central School, Ford-Johnston is able to provide continuity for a district that has only had two superintendents over the course of nearly thirty years. Continuity, she said, is something that the community of Keene values, even though they are also open and willing to tackle challenges.

“I’m able to step in and calm that panic, and help them find the next Dan, the next Cynthia, who’s going to bring that continuity and that longevity to the position,” she said. “The need for Keene is to find the next generational leader, so I’m going to step in and see if I can do that.”

Ford-Johnston said the goal for the school board will be to have a new superintendent within six months. They will be looking for someone with enough of a business background to handle the many duties of a small school district superintendent. They will also be looking for someone who is attuned to the needs of the community.

“The community at Keene overall expects a superintendent who is engaged with the community, not someone who comes in and does their job and goes home,” she said. “It’s somebody who’s open to that. It’s someone who relishes and grows from that would be ideal.”

As for Mayberry, he’ll be embarking on a new challenge — moving from a district of about 166 students to a district of about 4,800 students, spread between seven buildings. He said the biggest adjustment he foresees is learning to delegate tasks that he’s used to shouldering on his own.

When asked about his favorite memory from his time at KCSD, Mayberry had a ready answer. A few years ago, at the end of a holiday concert, he was able to announce to the students, parents and teachers that there would be a snow day the next day.

Normally, this decision is made alone in his house at 4:30 in the morning as he checks the weather and messages the transportation coordinator. He remembers the “pure eruption of joy coming out the entire room from adults and children alike.”

“You are literally the only person in the room at the time when you make the final (decision),” he said. “So to be in an auditorium full of people when that happens, it was a very, very enlightening experience. That’s pure joy.”