Derby Appoints Tanner As Interim Superintendent

The Derby Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to appoint George Tanner as interim superintendent of schools.

Tanner’s salary is $129,950.

The school board didn’t give him a precise end date. Tanner said he expects to be interim superintendent for three to six months.

School board chairman Ken Marcucio, Sr. said Tanner will be paid per week. If a permanent superintendent is found in three months, Tanner gets a portion of the annual salary.

Tanner said he does not plan to apply for the permanent position.

Tanner retired from Derby schools in 2006 after working there for 38 years. During that time he taught math and was an assistant principal at the high school. 

Most recently he was interim dean at Derby Middle School, where Sally Bonina is principal.

He had a good rapport with students, with the staff and with parents,” Bonina said.

Tanner, 67, is an Ansonia native who lives in Seymour.

It’s nice to be here and I look forward to working with the staff and administrators,” Tanner said.

Marcucio said the school board will probably work with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education to find a permanent superintendent.

Tanner replaces Stephen Tracy, who left the school district at the end of June to become superintendent of Unified School District No. 2.

One of Tanner’s top priorities will be submitting applications to the state’s new alliance district” grants. The grants are money targeted at improving the lowest-performing school district in the state.

Marcucio said Derby school officials are still exploring whether to merge with the Ansonia school district. Both communities are struggling every year to fund their public schools.

Derby schools, Derby town government and Ansonia schools recently merged their IT departments. The school districts recently talked about combining food services, Marcucio said.

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