Dr. Kevin Scanlon

A school’s ability to deliver a quality education extends beyond classrooms. Students’ needs go beyond academics, families face mounting pressures, and leaders make difficult decisions with finite resources. The challenge is meeting those needs while protecting each school’s purpose. For Dr. Kevin Scanlon, Superintendent of Schools at Three Village Central School District, this balance has shaped a career in teaching, academic leadership, and district administration.

Scanlon started at the New York City Board of Education, then taught in Brentwood’s night school program and at a Catholic school in Connecticut. He joined Three Village in 1996 as a social studies teacher, becoming humanities chairperson in 2001. In 2003, he moved to Oyster Bay-East Norwich as supervisor of social studies, business, and family and consumer science. He became Roslyn High School principal in 2005, and then returned to Three Village in 2012 as assistant superintendent for educational services. After ten years, he became superintendent, drawing on classroom teaching and district leadership.

“I believe AI has significant potential to support education, although its application is still in the early stages. I can see many valuable ways it can be used, but it will never replace the role of great teachers in the classroom.”

His experience informs his approach to public education’s complex challenges. Scanlon calls poverty one of K–12 education’s most pressing concerns. In his district, poverty has risen almost 400 percent in the past decade, bringing more students from difficult circumstances into schools that must meet their needs. Those needs coincide with financial pressures. New York relies heavily on local property taxes to fund schools, burdening families and businesses, while a tax cap limits how much; a tax cap limits additional revenue communities can raise. Vendor costs have climbed sharply, with some rising as much as 34 percent in a year. Leaders must maintain education quality amid rising costs and greater demand for support services.

Technology adds responsibilities. Scanlon advocates equitable technology access for all students but worries about social media’s effects on young people. He believes platform algorithms encourage addictive device use and expose children to harmful online experiences at increasingly young ages. Bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment are now the district’s most significant disciplinary concern, surpassing physical altercations. Some parents struggle to manage these platforms, underscoring the need for clear, consistent school-family communication.

Despite these concerns, Scanlon sees technology creating valuable teaching and learning opportunities, particularly as artificial intelligence develops.

“I believe AI has significant potential to support education, although its application is still in the early stages. I can see many valuable ways it can be used, but it will never replace the role of great teachers in the classroom,” he says.

Three Village has adapted its educational structure to address students’ differing needs. A strategic plan launched five years ago reorganized school levels to sustain the district’s long-standing quality of education. Ninth grade moved into the high school, while sixth grade moved out of elementary schools to establish a middle school model.

The district’s alternative school, established about 14 years ago, reflects the principle that students do not all thrive in the same environment. It supports students who experience school phobia or struggle with a large-school setting. Scanlon credits the program with a two-percentage-point increase in graduation rates and says it has helped students graduate on time alongside their peers. Career and technical education partnerships broaden options, offering different pathways toward a diploma.

Meeting varied student needs also depends on relationships with families and the wider community. Scanlon credits close collaboration with the board of education, committees, and surveys that invite public feedback. As community members often disagree, the district makes efforts to reach underrepresented groups, particularly residents in their twenties and thirties. It sustains dialogue through social media, podcasts, local newspaper articles, and Scanlon’s regular “Scoop of the Soup” feature, which informs families about school initiatives.

These experiences shape Scanlon’s advice to future education leaders. Superintendents must remain flexible, as funding changes and state or federal mandates can force them to rethink plans. For him, effective leadership is adapting to change, building strong professional and community relationships, and keeping student success at the heart of every decision. The goal is to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed while maintaining the quality of education that schools are entrusted to provide.