Matthew Conway, Jr., a former state lawmaker and a principal from the Hartford school system, was named superintendent of Derby Public Schools Thursday.
The vote was unanimous. The school board immediately gave Conway, who just turned 50, a box full of Derby attire, including a baseball cap with “superintendent” embroidered on the back.
Conway was ready to bathe in the Derby tradition. He came to the school board meeting at Derby Middle School wearing a “Derby pride” pin and a tie with pronounced red accents.
The new superintendent is scheduled to start in January at a base salary of $138,000, according to Derby school board president Ken Marcucio, Sr.
Conway is the principal at the Culinary Arts Academy at Weaver High School, a 400-student school within Hartford public schools.
Marcucio said people there credit Conway with turning the school around.
The video below shows some remarks from Marcucio. Story continues after the video.
He served one term in the state House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2011. He was elected as a Democrat.
He has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts.
He has an extensive background in education within the state’s prison system, according to his Project Vote Smart biography.
He is the father of four children and is a lacrosse coach at Suffield High School.
His mother, Kay, his wife, Alison, along with several of his children were in attendance at Thursday’s school board meeting.
“The search process was an extensive one,” Marcucio said in a prepared statement he read aloud. “There were 22 candidates who submitted applications and these were carefully reviewed.”
From there a community search committee and the school board conducted three rounds of interviews and conducted reference checks.
“Through this process, Matt rose to the top of a very competitive group,” Marcucio said. “Several of the candidates we interviewed were well qualified and would have provided strong leadership for the district; but Matt Conway was exceptional.”
Conway said he was attracted to Derby because of its respect for tradition and for community.
The new superintendent takes command of a small school system in a blue collar town that is expensive to fund and is struggling to improve academically.
“Successful change does not come without a lot of listening, learning, hard work, collaboration, disagreement, consensus and yes — a little bit of stress,” Conway said.
Click the video to watch Conway’s full remarks to the school board and community members in attendance.
Conway replaces Stephen Tracy, who left the district at the end of the last school year. George Tanner, a veteran Valley educator, had been serving as interim superintendent.
The video below features Marcucio reading the school board’s official statement on Conway’s selection. Story continues below.
Ron Sill, president of the Derby Board of Aldermen, was on the superintendent search committee.
“We had a lot of fine candidates. We picked the best of the best,” Sill said. “They were all great, but he rose to the top. We’re very excited to have him here. We have a lot great pieces already in Derby and I think he’s the piece we were looking for to have a great Derby school system.”
Parent James Stadt was also on the search committee to select a new superintendent.
“I was looking for someone who could be an actual leader. Someone who could take charge of what we already have in place here in Derby and move us forward,” Stadt said. “As Ron said, we looked at a lot of fantastic candidates. The cream rises to the top. We feel we found the best candidate in the state.”
Here’s the press release Derby schools sent to the media Friday morning:
