As Passi Departs, Long Beach Seeks New LBHS Principal

This story was updated at 11:45 on 5.10.13.

The Long Beach School District is searching for a new principal at its high school after Dr. Gaurav Passi officially accepted a position at another South Shore district.

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Passi was appointed the principal at Baypoint-Blue Point High School Tuesday after a holding the same position at Long Beach High School since 2010, and Long Beach district on Thursday announced Passi’s resignation and his commitment to finishing his tenure that expires June 30.

“The district has begun conducting a search,” the district’s announcement read. “A new principal will be appointed at the conclusion of the search.”

About Passi's departure, Long Beach Superintendent David Weiss said in a statement:  "We thank Dr. Passi for his service to the district and wish him the best in his new position." 

Patch contacted two Board of Education trustees to comment on Passi’s departure and the search for a new principal but didn’t receive replies.

Baypoint-Blue Patch reported Monday that Passi would be appointed the next principal at B-BP high school at an annual salary of $169,000. Passi said he was leaving LBHS for several reasons, citing in part his professional relationship with Dr. Vincent Butera, the former superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Long Beach who was hired as B-BP superintendent in October. Butera was involved in hiring Passi to his position as principal at LBHS.

"I enjoyed working with Dr. Butera at Long Beach, so that was a factor, but most important is the investment the Bayport-Blue Point community has made toward education," Passi told Patch in a phone call Monday.

Passi also said that his and the B-BP district’s philosophies are aligned with regard to preparing students for their college and longer-term careers.

The B-BP district wrote in a release on hiring Passi: “During his three-year tenure in Long Beach, Dr. Passi played an instrumental role in increasing the high school’s level of academic rigor and creating a focus on college and career readiness, including overseeing the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and substantially increasing the number of college-level courses offered at the school.”

A Levittown resident, Passi taught social studies at Farmingdale High School before he was appointed to an assistant principal position at Northport High School. Two years later, he left to take a position as administrative dean at Locust Valley High School, where he stayed for two years. In 2010, Long Beach hired Passi to replace retiring high school principal Nick Restivo.

Bayport-Blue Point district's search for a new principal involved placing one job advertisement in the New York Times, which drew 15 resumes. Of that pool, five candidates were invited for interviews.

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