A top administrator from the Longwood Central School District is expected to be appointed tonight by the Riverhead Board of Education as the next superintendent of the Riverhead Central School District.
Robert Hagan, the assistant superintendent for human resources at Longwood, is the board’s choice for the district’s top administrative position, according to a contract on tonight’s school board agenda.
The superintendent is the chief administrative officer of the school district and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. He reports directly to the school board, making recommendations to trustees on employment actions, policy and other matters.
Hagan will receive an annual salary of $260,000. The district will pay 80% towards the cost of Hagan’s health insurance premium, provide full dental benefits and contribute $10,000 annually to Hagan’s retirement account, according to the agreement. Hagan will also be allowed to buy-back up to 10 unused vacation days per year, and receive a $600 a month car allowance and $100 a month cell phone allowance, the agreement says.
The term of the contract is for three years, commencing on July 1 of this year. Hagan signed the agreement on Monday, according to the contract.
In addition to his administrative role at Longwood, Hagan is also an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University and Fordham University, where he teaches courses related to education, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is a managing partner of Praesid, a firm that digitizes compliance-related documents, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Hagan became the assistant superintendent for human resources at Longwood in September 2020. Prior to that he was the director of technology learning and instruction at the East Hampton School District for seven years. His previous roles include a district-level administrator, an assistant principal and a social studies teacher, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Riverhead Central School District has been without a permanent superintendent since the abrupt resignation of Augustine Tornatore in October 2023. At the same time, Assistant Superintendent for Business Rodney Asse also submitted his resignation. The board approved a separation agreement with Tornatore, and Asse was reassigned at home with full pay and benefits until his resignation took effect.
The district brought in two retired superintendents, Cheryl Pedisich and Marianne Cartisano, to lead the district in the interim while they searched for permanent replacements.
School board president James Scudder said in an interview Monday that the board had made its selection and that the individual would be present at Wednesday’s school board meeting. The district received 13 applications for the superintendent position; there were four rounds of interviews, he said. The superintendent search was conducted with the assistance of Eastern Suffolk BOCES.
Scudder did not return a text message requesting comment for this article. Hagan declined to comment through an email from Riverhead schools’ public relations firm, which said he wanted to wait until after his appointment by the school board.
The school board will still need to find permanent hires for three top central administration posts currently held by interim employees: the assistant superintendent for business; the assistant superintendent for human resources and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. School board members have said they want the new superintendent to have input in the hiring of those posts.
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