Former North Shore School District Interim Superintendent Thomas Dolan was appointed Tuesday night to serve the Sewanhaka Central High School District in the same capacity.
Dolan will take over later this year on July 1, replacing current Superintendent James Grossane, whose retirement becomes effective June 30.
“I’d like to thank the board for this honor and opportunity,” Dolan said once the Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint him. “Also, congratulations to James. Our paths have crossed a couple of times and we’ve always worked so well together, so I look forward to having that chance again.”
The resolution to appoint Dolan to the Floral Park post did not have an end date, but he said he will serve as interim superintendent until the Board of Ed finds a permanent replacement.
After announcing his retirement, Grossane said there are at least 14 other superintendents in the area who are retiring and the district wanted to begin an in-depth search for the best candidate as soon as possible, spurring the need for an interim superintendent.
Dolan replaced Peter Giarrizzo at North Shore in 2021 and served until April 2022, when the Board of Education appointed Christopher Zublionis.
He most notably served as the superintendent of the Great Neck School District from 2009 to 2015 and has been interim superintendent of the Locust Valley School District.
He also led the Franklin Square Elementary District as superintendent, was an assistant superintendent in the Manhasset and Sewanhaka school districts, and served as principal of Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High School and Franklin Square’s H. Frank Carey Jr./Sr. High School.
Prior to his retirement from the Great Neck schools, Dolan led Nassau Community College for a year as its interim president and taught at Hofstra University, LIU-C.W. Post and Queens College.
Before entering administrative roles, Dolan taught social studies for 15 years at Canastota High School in upstate New York.
He graduated from Hamilton College in 1978 with a teaching certification and degrees in psychology and history, earned a Master of Science from Queens College in 1983, and later received a doctoral degree in education from Hofstra University.
