First Selectman Paul Roy is calling upon the Board of Education to wait until next year to make a decision on replacing school Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo, who will retire in June 2012.
Roy said he wants it that way because a new school board will be elected in November.
“While the current board should start the process, the final decision should not be made until the new board is seated,” Roy said in a statement to the press.
Roy, a Democrat, said he has talked with several parents and residents and found they feel the same way.
Board chairman Edward Strumello, a Democrat, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Bruce Baker, a Republican member of the school board, said he would have to reserve comment for now on Roy’s statement.
“I’ll have to talk it over with the rest of the board,” Baker said.
Mascolo indicated she is planning to retire to spend time with her family.
Roy’s press release is posted below.
I disagree here. If the process can be completed (interviews, negotiations, offer, and acceptance) by the current Board, then they should do it. Its absolutely irrelevant who the Board members are. One Board is as good as the next, and each are elected to conduct Board business, which includes hiring. I can’t possibly conceive of a reason to artificially wait to hire someone, especially in this economy.
VR, I agreed with you at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Why get it done so far in advance when a new BOE is going to be elected in November? There could be major turnover (probably not, but the possibility is there). Is it really necessary to hire a new Superintendent, just to have a new BOE come in and possibly be antagonistic towards someone they didn’t hire?
I’m personally more interested in the negotiations of the new person’s contract. The Lauretti incident in Shelton brought bonuses and other compensation to the forefront, and I would want to be more aware of what’s happening in that regard so I could speak up if I saw something I didn’t like. But for hiring a new person, Mrs. Mascolo isn’t leaving her job for awhile, so there’s no real rush.
You need to accept the fact that the Board of Ed could turn over to new people every two years, yet the hired Superintendent would, hopefully, stay longer than that.
So, logically, Seymour will hire a new Superintendent who will work in Seymour for many years, and work with many different Boards. Once you accept that fact, its completely illogical for the current board to wait to hire someone, given the current job market.
In other words, the new super, whoever they are, will be there longer than any board, so its irrelevant whether this board hires them or the next one does.
It would be nice if Mr. Roy learned how to run the town before he tries to run the school system. Public Works, Senior Center, etc. the list is endless.