The Hempstead Board of Education has appointed a new interim superintendent after months of paying two chiefs, following a decision to “part ways” with a former superintendent early in the school year.

Gary Rush, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, has been appointed to the role on an interim capacity, Hempstead school board president Victor Pratt said on Monday. 

He replaces Susan Johnson, a former district superintendent who was appointed on an interim basis in September to replace Regina Armstrong, who was put on administrative leave that same month amid clashes with the school board.

Rush is set to take office on Tuesday.

"We needed to appoint Mr. Rush, while we search for a permanent superintendent," Pratt said. 

The contracts of both Johnson and Armstrong were set to expire on Monday. Armstrong was to be paid an annual salary of $310,000 under her contract, plus about $29,000 in benefits and other compensation, Newsday previously reported. Johnson as interim superintendent earned a rate of $1,500 a day, without benefits.

Rush will be paid an annual rate of $300,000, officials said.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Rush was appointed to the role during a special board meeting on Friday. His appointment was approved 3-2, said Pratt, who cast a dissenting vote.

"I just felt that he could be more prepared if he stayed under Superintendent Johnson, but it was the decision of the board that he was ready to go, so we made the move," Pratt said. "We have the utmost confidence in him that he'll do the job that needs to be done."

In April, Armstrong filed a suit against the district, the school board and its president, claiming she faced defamation, discrimination and a leave that amounted to “wrongful termination,” Newsday previously reported.

Pratt, the board’s president, previously said her reassignment was due to disagreements she had with the board's majority over policy, as well as a breakdown in trust related to Armstrong’s spending requests, Newsday has reported.

The district has faced challenges in recent years, including averting the closure of David Paterson Elementary School due to a last-minute $24 million state aid increase. Officials have said rising charter schools and declining enrollment have created a "financial crisis" in the district.

The district also has had a state fiscal monitor since 2020, which was recently extended through 2027.