New Tonawanda city school chief eager to start work closer to home
Whitney Vantine has served in many school districts around the state, but the Hamburg native is excited to return to his home region as the new superintendent for the Tonawanda City School District.
The School Board approved Vantine’s five-year, $150,000 contract last week during a special meeting.
“I’m ecstatic because I’m coming home,” Vantine said by phone Thursday from Long Island, where he is currently serving as the superintendent of the Cold Spring Harbor School District. He is set to start in Tonawanda on July 14.
“Every district I’ve been to has been no different,” he said. “The biggest issue is that the parents care about their children.”
Vantine’s first superintendent’s post came in the Friendship Central School District in 1990, where he served for five years. He then served as superintendent in Union Springs and Lewiston-Porter before moving to Cold Spring Harbor.
Vantine resigned from Lew- Port after a number of disagreements with the School Board, but the new Tonawanda superintendent said he’s ready to move on.
“What’s past is past,” he said. “If someone were to look at my record, they would see that I did well for children.”
While Cold Springs and Tonawanda are similar in enrollment size, Vantine noted the median income in Cold Springs is higher. He is starting to familiarize himself with the people and issues of Tonawanda.
“They made some nice progress over the years,” said Vantine. “They seem like they want to work collectively and move the district forward.”
Several long-range studies have projected that Tonawanda will see a decreasing student population in the coming years. Administrators and board members have discussed consolidations and restructuring in the past.
“I’m aware of that,” Vantine said. “I assume that’s an issue we’re going to have to look at.”
A graduate of Ithaca College, Vantine began his career as a physical education teacher in the Sharon Springs and Royalton- Hartland school districts. He moved up to administration while at Royalton-Hartland, becoming assistant principal of the junior high school. He then became the high school principal of the Southern Cayuga Central School District in 1987.
