Update: Derby’s School Superintendent Is Leaving

Derby School Superintendent Stephen Tracy submitted a letter of resignation Monday, saying he’s leaving the district to take a position with the state’s Department of Children and Families.

The resignation is effective July 1.

Tracy will become the superintendent of schools for Unified District No. 2, which is responsible for the education of students in foster and residential care in Connecticut.

The news was first reported Monday night on Cleary Derby’s Facebook page.

Tracy took the reins in Derby in June 2008, replacing Michael Abdalla, who had served as interim superintendent after Janet Robinson left the district.

Under Tracy’s watch, Derby opened a new middle school and saw new administrators at the Bradley School and the high school. The high school also saw its accreditation remain intact during Tracy’s time as superintendent.

FILE PHOTOIn addition, the school district started paying closer attention to data in an effort to track how students are doing in the district.

At each school board meeting, the school principals review data dashboards” with the school board. The charts and tables track everything from test scores to the dropout rate at the high school.

Tracy and his colleagues also focused on improving reading programs for the district’s youngest students. The district also adopted a five-year plan. Part of that plan calls for Derby schools to study whether it makes financial sense to regionalize the school district as a way to improve learning and save money.

Tracy came to Derby schools as the country entered a recession. The schools chief had the unenviable task of asking the City of Derby for more money to run the schools — at a time when Derby was trying like heck to toe the bottom line and weather the recession.

Despite the financial headwinds that we have faced over the past four years, I believe we have worked effectively to translate limited resources into valuable opportunities for the children of this community,” Tracy wrote in his resignation letter.

Tracy wasn’t available for comment Tuesday, but he provided the Valley Indy with a copy of his resignation letter, which is posted below.

Tracy’s departure is not a complete surprise. He was a finalist for a superintendent’s position in Torrington last year.

School board president Ken Marcucio, Sr. said he is sorry to see Tracy go.

Tracy is known in Derby for his accessibility and friendliness. He could talk about goats on his farm in Goshen, Conn. with as much passion and knowledge as he could about The William Glasser Institute’s choice theory, an educational philosophy.

Marcucio said Tracy’s dedication did not go unnoticed.

His dedication to the students of Derby cannot be denied. He put in a lot of time. He gave us 200 percent,” Marcucio said. We were happy with what he did and the time he put in to try to get us on the right track.”

Tracy came to Derby after a rather turbulent few years within the district. Student safety had been a serious issue within the combined middle-high school. The Board of Education did not enjoy an especially harmonious relationship with city officials.

Marcucio said Tracy improved those relationships.

Photo: Jodie MozdzerHe worked well with the city fathers. He was very honest with them and shared financial information,” Marcucio said.

Tracy’s tenure was not without bumps in the road.

He believes that in addition to focusing on student achievement, schools need to zero in on struggling students and ask why those students are not being motivated. Tracy is a strong supporter of choice theory, an educational philosophy. Choice theory argues, in part, that simply punishing a student isn’t a good method to get that student on the right track.

The Valley Indy sat in on a choice theory session in 2010. Click here to read more.

Choice theory, however, didn’t have complete support within Derby’s educational community. There were whispers on the street that Tracy wanted to throw out grades.

Some of the tension between Tracy and some teachers went public in August 2011, when the Derby Administrators Association — the union representing school principals — lodged a formal grievance against him, accusing the superintendent of changing a failing student’s grade.

Tracy told the Valley Indy at the time the story wasn’t that simple and that the student had attempted to withdraw from the class before being given a failing grade.

Click here to read the original story.

Marcucio acknowledged that choice theory” created some apprehension among some Derby teachers and community members.

It probably scared a lot of people, just using the term choice theory,’” Marcucio said.

The school board wasn’t surprised by Tracy’s advocacy for choice theory. It was a subject Tracy mentioned back in 2008 when he was interviewed for the job.

In a column posted Monday night on the Department of Children and Families website, Janice M. Gruendel, the agency’s deputy commissioner, notes Tracy concentrates on motivation, performance and public transparency.

Gruendel then goes through Tracy’s resume and links out to a recent article Tracy published in the Hartford Courant. Click here to read Gruendel’s column.

Ken Hughes, a member of the Board of Aldermen, said Tracy earned the respect of elected officials in Derby.

The relationship between school districts and city officials in any town can become strained over financial issues, Hughes said. But Tracy was never one to pit residents and the school board against city elected officials.

He was very open and honest and straight forward,” Hughes said.

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Tracy’s departure comes during an important time in Derby schools.

The school board recently adopted a strategic plan. Faced with ever-increasing costs, the district is examining whether regionalizing the school district in some form could lessen the load on Derby taxpayers.

Tracy has been a key player in that process. It’s an issue the Board of Education will continue to explore, Marcucio said.

We have our money problems like everyone else,” Marcucio said. We have our strategic plan in place and we’re looking into regionalization and areas we can save money.”

The Board of Education was scheduled to meet tonight (Tuesday, April 3). It is their first meeting since Tracy submitted his letter of resignation.

The next steps for the school board aren’t completely clear at this point, Marcucio said.

He’s not gone until the end of June, so we have some time to decide what to do,” Marcucio said. And, if we need more time, we could hire an interim superintendent to get more time.”

Tracy was paid $133,900 as Derby superintendent in 2011. His salary in the new position is $138,000.

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