The Board of Education sent retiring Superintendent Robin Willink off with some cake and kind words at its meeting Wednesday night, but has yet to finalize the contract for incoming Superintendent Freeman Burr, who starts work Aug. 1.
Burr was officially hired by the Board of Education at the June meeting, although his contract and pay weren’t set at the time.
Board of Education Chairman Win Oppel said the board authorized him, within certain parameters, to finalize and approve the contract before Burr starts.
Oppel said the negotiations are still underway, but he expects to be finished before Aug. 1.
He declined to give any details about what the contract might include.
“Robin has built a nice solid foundation,” Oppel said. “Freeman has the opportunity to build on that and to keep bringing the district forward.”
Burr comes to Shelton after spending 15 years at the Hartford school system, where he was most recently the assistant superintendent for secondary and intervention schools.
Willink, for her part, spent the last seven years as the superintendent in Shelton, and was an assistant superintendent in the district before that.
She was shown off with kind words from several board members, and the president of the teacher’s union. (See the video below for board members’ statements.)
“We will miss her, Oppel said. “We will miss her even-handedness, her patience, her firm grasp of often complex and competing issues.”
Board member Timothy Walsh joked that the board should give Willink a pass to all future sporting events, because she came to be such a staple at them, despite living outside of town.
Teachers’ Association President Deborah Keller said the fact that Willink wasn’t a local at first concerned some people.
“I remember when you came here seven years ago,” said Keller. “I remember thinking, ‘This could be interesting.’”
But Keller said, Willink was always open and willing to communicate with the staff, even if they “didn’t always want to hear everything you wanted to say.”
And even though Willink didn’t live in Shelton, she “went above and beyond” to attend Shelton events, Keller said.
“You really are a ‘Sheltonite’ at heart,” Keller said.
