WHITEHALL – Whitehall Central School District Superintendent Patrick Dee will retire at the end of August after leading the district for nine years. 

But he won’t be going anywhere for at least another year, after the Board of Education approved his appointment as interim superintendent through the 2024-25 school year during the June 17 school board meeting. 

“I look forward to filling in next year while does a search” for his successor, Dee said after the unanimous board vote to keep him on for the coming year. 

Board President Roxanne Waters said she and her colleagues accepted Dee’s retirement “with deep regret,” noting Dee had guided the district through difficult times, including the 2020 flood that caused significant damage to the junior/senior high school building about a week before the district set to reopen for the 2020-21 school year..  

“We’re so grateful for the guidance he has given us,” Waters said. 

Dee said the board will look both within and outside for a candidate to replace him. His year-long term as interim superintendent will give the board the opportunity to conduct a thorough and careful search for a new district leader, he said. 

The interim contract will pay Dee for each day he works – expected to be 185 days between Sept. 1 and June 30, 2025. The total payout will be $143,375, which translates to $775 per day. 

Dee will not receive benefits such as health insurance while serving as the interim superintendent. 

Dee is currently paid $190,212 per year and receives a benefits package valued at $69,158, according to the state Department of Education database of superintendent salaries statewide. 

The provisions in the interim agreement are typical of school districts statewide. 

Dee has worked in education for 33 years, beginning as a teacher. He served as a principal in the Glens Falls school district for 10 years before becoming the superintendent in Lake George, a position he held for seven years before taking on the same post in Whitehall. 

He holds degrees in both school administration and school psychology, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Dee said he has no concrete plans for what he will do after he finally leaves the Whitehall school district in July of 2025. 

“It’s going to be weird when I don’t come here anymore,” he said.