Judith Johnson Starts School Year as Mount Vernon Interim Superintendent

After less than two years of retirement, Peekskill schools’ former superintendent Judith Johnson has started a new job as interim superintendent for the Mount Vernon City School District. She replaced Waveline Bennett-Conroy, who was serving as interim superintendent after Welton Sawyer left the district under a settlement not made public.

Johnson was hired July 2, elected by a 7-1 vote of the Mount Vernon Board of Education, according to the Journal News’ Ned P. Rauch.

Johnson served the Peekskill City School District for nearly ten years; she resigned in late 2010 and served her last day Jan. 4, 2011. Before her time in the city, Johnson held several positions in the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton administration.

During the Peeskill Board of Education’s send off for Johnson, board member Douglas Glickert noted an increased graduation rate from 55 percent to 75 percent, increased enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, partnerships with local colleges, string instruction in the elementary school and the new middle school, as accomplishments during her tenure. Also, Glickert said she attracted substantial amounts of grant money and donations over her years of service.

In an article covering Johnson’s last board meeting in Peekskill, Patch contributor Jeff Canning wrote:

Johnson has often referenced her long-term goal to eradicate the gross inequalities in public education.  She says that she has always worked to make sure that all students have their potential recognized in their schools, as she did when she was a high school student and an English teacher encouraged her to write. 

Johnson has received many awards and accolades for her work at PCSD and throughout her career.  She has taught in New York City schools, worked as an assistant superintendent in White Plains, and then moved on to serve as the Active Assistant Secretary for elementary and secondary education under the Clinton Administration. 

In 2001, Johnson became Peekskill's first African-American and woman superintendent.  During the nine and a half years of Johnson's leadership the district received more than $20 million dollars in grant funds for academic programs and a $59 million bond issue to build the new middle school opened in 2009.  The district had not built a new school in more than 30 years. 

Read the full article .

Read about Johnson's thoughts on education in Patch contributor Jean Moczarski's Q&A with her in 2010 . 

What did you think of Johnson as Peekskill’s superintendent? What do you think of her new job? Please share your thoughts in the comments.