The Saugerties Central School District’s (SCSD) interim superintendent is no stranger to Saugerties. Daniel Erceg, most recently the district’s assistant superintendent, is also a Class of 2002 Saugerties High School alum.
“I think one thing that has kind of motivated me to me throughout my time here is the calling to do more in a place like Saugerties, where I grew up, I graduated and I now reside here with my four boys,” Erceg said last week in an interview with Hudson Valley One. “Being able to kind of maintain our momentum was very exciting for me.”
Erceg, who has been with the SCSD professionally since arriving as an assistant principal in October 2018, steps into the interim role following the departure of former Superintendent Kirk Reinhardt, who returned to his alma mater and former employer earlier this month, briefly as interim principal at Kingston High School and then as the Kingston City School District’s (KCSD) deputy superintendent of teaching and learning. Reinhardt was previously the principal at Kingston High School before taking on the superintendent’s role in Saugerties four years ago.
Erceg was made deputy superintendent in February, days before Reinhardt announced he was leaving Saugerties, and the two worked closely together after the former became the SCSD’s director of human resources in December 2019. School Board President Robert Thomann said Erceg made sense as interim superintendent.
“He was already actively involved in decision making processes, things like repurposing the (former) Mount Marion (Elementary) School, budgeting, personnel, all those things,” Thomann said.”He was the assistant superintendent, so he was the logical choice.”
Erceg received his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Adolescent Education, with a minor in Business Administration from Marist College in May 2006. He then earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute two years later; and in December 2014 he earned a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Administration at SUNY New Paltz. He received a Doctorate in Education in Educational Leadership from Russell Sage College in December 2022. Erceg is also certified by New York State in Adolescent Education in Mathematics, as a School District Leader, and as a School Building Leader.
Professionally, Erceg got his start as a secondary mathematics teacher in July 2006 at James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach on Oahu in Hawaii. He then returned to New York, teaching mathematics at Lagrange Middle School from September 2008-November 2014. From November 2014-June 2016, Erceg served as the Kingston City School District’s assistant director of math, science and technology, with a focus on grades 5-12. After serving as vice principal at J. Watson Bailey Middle School in the KCSD from July 2016-September 2018, Erceg finally returned to Saugerties, where he was an assistant principal at Saugerties High for one year before becoming director of human resources in December 2019.
Erceg currently earns a stipend of $150 per day on top of his $136,168 annual salary as assistant superintendent. He said his previous role was less linear than it might have seemed.
“Although my title was director of HR, I think that you’ll see a lot of my work was beyond a traditional HR function,” he said. “That does allow me to have a vast knowledge of many things going on in the district. And I do attribute that to Mr. Reinhardt’s leadership style and the quality of my colleagues in the cabinet. I find this to be a special place, and everybody is willing to help. It’s one of those gems in the rough.”
One colleague Erceg has been working closely with lately is Jane St. Amour, the district’s Business Manager, as Saugerties puts together its operating budget for the 2023-24 school year. The spending plan is expected to be adopted during a meeting of the Board of Education this week, and will go before the public on Tuesday, May 16.
“(St. Amour) is just phenomenal,” Erceg said. “She is very knowledgeable about the budget, about all of our grants,” he said, adding that much work was done prior to Reinhardt’s departure. “The budget process for us really starts December, January and (St. Amour) really drives that.”
Erceg said the $71,192,559 budget the district will present to the School Board on Tuesday, April 18 after Hudson Valley One goes to press maintains crucial resources while making additions in a spending plan that addresses the needs of the district’s students alongside the public’s ability to pay for it.
“I want to keep the ball rolling,” Erceg said. “We’ve made tremendous growth over the past four years, and I want to keep that going.”
Whether Erceg removes the “interim” tag or not remains to be seen. Thomann last week said the district was still determining the parameters of a search for its next superintendent. Asked if he’d apply for the position, Erceg declined to answer.
“Right now my main focus is making sure that we don’t lose momentum and we keep things going,” Erceg said. “We’re focused on our goals of achievement, climate, culture, community, and safety and security. Obviously it’s very intriguing to me…But my focus right now is just making sure that we, you know, we provide the best experience for our kids possible.”
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