This article was updated on Oct. 22 at 6:45 p.m. to include comments from Eric Byrne and Jane Anderson, Board of Education president.
After nearly a decade at the helm, Rye Schools Superintendent Eric Byrne felt it was “the right time in my life” to retire — news that he announced in an email to the community Monday.
The decision was to be made official at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, where Byrne, 56, planned to formally tender his resignation for retirement effective June 30, 2025.
The move closes the book on an eight-year chapter steering the city’s schools.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to have served as your Superintendent of Schools for these past eight years and to have been a public school educator for 32 years,” Byrne said in the email. The sense of community that exists here is unique and wonderful.”
He said this summer is when he first began thinking about stepping down.
“You know … age, career… all that kind of good stuff,” Byrne told The Record on Tuesday. “Thirty-two years in the business, 27 as an administrator. It’s the right time in my life. But I think the district is in a terrific position moving forward … financially stable.”
Byrne bows out collecting around $323,000 in annual salary, according to seethroughny.net – rising steadily from the $260,000 he received in July 2017 when taking over the position.
His arrival provided stability after a period of tumultuous turnover following the retirement of longtime superintendent Ed Shine in 2012.
After Frank Alvarez resigned with a year left on his five-year contract, the district hired an interim superintendent, Brian Monahan, for a short stint before landing Byrne, who will have four years left on his contract when he retires.
“It is a loss for the community, it is a loss for the school district and we would have him as long as he was willing to,” Board of Education President Jane Anderson told The Record. “We have a fantastic relationship with Dr. Byrne and we are absolutely sad to see him go.”
On average, around 40 school superintendents in New York retire each year, according to data from the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
What’s next? Byrne sounds unsure, but his time as a chief administrator seems over.
“I think the aspect of my career as a superintendent is done,” he said. “I have no idea what’s ahead. I’ve got nine months or beyond to figure that out.”
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island, Byrne was a product of the New York City public schools, beginning his career in education in the Big Apple before transitioning to Westchester County.
Prior to joining the city’s school district, he served in Chappaqua as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. And before that, he was a principal at an elementary school in Bedford.
His tenure running the show in Rye was highlighted by the passage of an $80 million capital infrastructure bond in 2019, which paved the way for much of the revamped infrastructure evident around district campuses today; navigating the schools through the pandemic; ushering in the Rye Commitment pledge to fully support education, and delivering nine consecutive cap-compliant budgets.
But connecting with students and spending time in the classrooms was the most rewarding part of the job, he said. “It’s always the kids,” he said.
The district also faced some challenges.
The initial school bond in 2019 failed, and just this year the high school saw a rather sharp drop in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report’s best high school rankings while its top two administrators – the high school’s principal and assistant principal – resigned in late June.
At Tuesday night’s regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting the process to find a replacement for Byrne will begin.
A request for proposals for search firms will be issued at the meeting, and community input will be solicited to help identify qualities for the district’s next superintendent, according to the board.
Anderson said the search firm will dictate the hiring timeline. A firm was also used in finding Byrne.
“We appreciate the importance of this decision and will work tirelessly to find someone who exemplifies Dr. Byrne’s leadership qualities,” the board said in a prepared statement.