TUPPER LAKE — The search for Tupper Lake Central School District’s next superintendent is now down to three candidates.

The district is now selecting stakeholder members of the public — including teachers and administrators, parents, students and other residents — to assemble on June 6 for an interview with the candidates. Aditya (Joe) Dhara of Fayetteville, outside Syracuse; Jared Taft, of Getzville in western New York; and Jaycee Welsh of La Fargeville in Jefferson County are all in the running.

Out of 13 applications submitted for the position, TLCSD Board of Education members interviewed seven candidates in a confidential first round earlier this month. That list has now narrowed down to Dhara, Taft and Welsh.

FEH BOCES Public Information Specialist Jess Collier said volunteers from the community will form three interview groups — with each including a representative from the district’s teaching staff, non-teaching staff and administration, as well as a community/parent representative and a student representative. Each candidate will be interviewed three times, rotating between the three groups.

Current TLCSD Superintendent Russell Bartlett plans to retire at the end of the school year after four years in the position. Altogether, Bartlett worked at TLCSD for 30 years, starting as a science teacher in 1994.

Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES District Superintendent Dale Breault is facilitating the search for a new superintendent. He said the board felt these three have the right combinations of high qualifications and being potential good fits for district.

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The candidates

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Dhara was superintendent of Berlin Central School District for about three years until he resigned in November 2023.

Dhara said there was turnover on the Berlin board of education with members having a different set of beliefs than him for future of the district, so he decided it was best to “part ways.”

The Albany Times-Union reported that the district had a $2.4 million “error” in its budget last year while Dhara was superintendent, when one-time federal funds were budgeted as recurring funds, leaving a large deficit. Sixteen jobs at the district were thought to be in danger as a result of the error, according to the TU. A school board member claimed that the error was made by someone “not educated properly” on putting together budgets.

Dhara said the information in the TU was “not accurate.” He said the district only ever received around $1.4 million in federal coronavirus aid. The district used $948,000 in his last budget, which was last year of these funds. He also said the $2.4 million deficit likely comes from adding together the $1.5 million pulled from reserves in his last budget with $800,000 pulled from fund balance. He said these actions were standard practice.

This year, BCSD pulled $500,000 from reserves and $1 million from fund balance. Dhara pointed to this as evidence that the district is in a strong financial state, because it brought in $1.5 million more in revenue than expenses last year, which rolls over to be spent this year.

Dhara said the district’s budget hole comes from “right sizing,” with increasing costs due to inflation and decreasing state and federal aid not meeting that rising cost. TLCSD is facing these same problems. He said he understands them well and has ideas for solutions.

Dhara is working on a doctorate of Philosophy in Teaching and Curriculum from Syracuse University and has about 11 years of administrative experience at several school districts in the Syracuse and Ithaca regions. He started in the education field as a math teacher in Syracuse in 2005.

Publications from BCSD show Dhara grew up in India and moved to the U.S. to pursue higher education. His writings in the district show he is a electrical engineer, volunteer and pizza maker who says he loves the outdoors.

He also recently earned a school bus driver’s license.

Taft was superintendent of Alexander Central Schools for three years through the coronavirus pandemic until the end of the 2022-2023 school year. He was a principal for about 18 years before that at various schools in western New York, including being the elementary school principal for ACS. ACS is a district of a similar size to TLCSD.

He started teaching sixth grade at Roy Mann Intermediate School in Brooklyn in 2000.

He is working on a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He currently holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a Master of Science in Elementary Education from Niagara University, as well as a Master of Science in School Administration and Supervision from Touro College.

Welsh is currently the executive principal and director of special education at La Fargeville Central School District with around nine years of experience as an administrator. She was a special education teacher in Carthage before that.

Welsh also teaches education courses at SUNY Potsdam and Watertown campuses.

She has certifications in District Level Education Leadership from Niagara University and Education Leadership from James Madison University.