The Moravia Central School District is one step closer to hiring a new superintendent while the Port Byron Central School District has a new leader joining its ranks during the new year.

According to the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services Superintendent Bill Speck, 18 people from both in and out of state have applied to be Moravia's next superintendent. The application deadline was last Friday.

“I am very pleased with the number of applicants,” Speck said. “On paper they look very good, and now we're going to go through the interview process where we can meet them and talk about the district, then select the best candidate.”

Speck expects the board of education to review the applications in the coming weeks, the interview process slated for February and final interviews conducted by mid-March.

After leading the district for nearly nine years, current Superintendent William Tammaro is taking a position at the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego BOCES effective Jan. 5. His last day with Moravia will be Jan. 3.

In the meantime, the board hired Gordon Klumpp, former superintendent of the Groton Central School District, as interim superintendent.

Tammaro is not the only district leader to be moving on. Business Administrator Pat Shaw, who spent more than five years in Moravia, is also leaving the district to join the Port Byron Central School District to lead its business office. Her resignation is effective Jan. 2.

“It was just a good opportunity for some growth and time for a change,” she said. “I'm very excited to it. I'm looking forward to the challenge.”

Shaw will replace current Port Byron Business Administrator Gloria Dunton, who resigned a month ago for personal reasons, Superintendent Neil O'Brien said. Dunton will officially leave the district on April 1 after using vacation time she's accrued during her two-and-a-half year tenure at the district, but will stop working next month.

“I consider myself to be enormously fortunate to have somebody with the experience and know-how and a great reputation like Pat Shaw has in Moravia to join us,” O'Brien said. “We'll miss Gloria. We are just lucky enough to find somebody that can continue in a very positive direction for us.”

The Moravia board hired former business official Larry Driscoll to serve as interim, president Laura Wells said. The intention is to have a superintendent in place before searching for a new business manager.

“I think we're in very good hands with the two interims we've put into place,” Wells said, “and I think we're headed in the right direction. I'm very confident in their ability to lead us.”