There could be significant changes underfoot at Ramapo Central School District.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Douglas S. Adams during a Suffern Middle School visit as design teams work to complete a design challenge. (Photo courtesy of Ramapo Central School District)

As reported in the Clarkstown Daily Voice and LoHud, Ramapo Central School District Superintendent Dr. Douglas Adams is one of three finalists under consideration to become the new Clarkstown Central School District Superintendent. 

Clarkstown Central has around 8,200 students while Ramapo Central has some 5,000.

Dr. Adams was hired away from a smaller school district outside Little Rock, Arkansas in 2011 to lead the Ramapo Central school system, where he inherited a district characterized by growing programs and services and ballooning budget and tax increases to to match.

Ramapo Central School District Superintendent Dr. Douglas Adams is one of three finalists under consideration to become the new Clarkstown Central School District Superintendent.

A one-time math teacher at Suffern High School and Don Bosco, and graduate of West Point with a law degree and PhD, Adams has put his expertise in efficiency and effectiveness in public schools to work, rapidly scaling up the district’s digital presence and administrative structure to meet the demands of a highly competitive and mercurial K-12 educational landscape.

Upon Adams’ arrival, the district faced a projected, sustained budget deficit in the millions of dollars that Dr. Adams and the Board of Education have nearly bridged through efficiencies and cost-saving measures, though not without hard cuts amid complex choices — grappling with state aid reductions and property tax caps to name two. Dr. Adams also just completed successful albeit bruising negotiations with the Ramapo Teachers Association for a new district contract.

Although Ramapo residents nearly always declaim school taxes as a top concern, Ramapo Central Schools are highly rated both athletically and academically and most recently received an A+ by K12.Niche.com, ranking in the top 50 New York districts, ahead of Clarkstown Central.

Along with Dr. Adams, the other two Clarkstown superintendent finalists include Mr. Martin D. Cox, Superintendent from the Sodus Central School District in New York and Dr. Jeffrey R. Rabey, Superintendent of the Depew Union Free School District. All three candidates are scheduled to hold public sessions in the district next week.