Two Valley residents have been named assistant principals at Seymour elementary schools.
Ernest DiStasi, of Derby, and Leslie Sojka, of Seymour, were promoted to the new positions by unanimous vote of the Board of Education last week.
DiStasi will serve as assistant principal at Bungay Elementary School, and Sojka will be assistant principal at Chatfield Elementary School.
Each had served as an administrative intern at the respective schools before getting promoted.
They will make about $107,000 each, according to Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo.
The assistant principal positions were created as part of a restructuring of the elementary schools in Seymour.
The district plans to close LoPresti School, and join it with a renovated and expanded Chatfield school in the fall of 2012.
The change means the district will have one less principal. The district is also eliminating the administrative intern positions next year — meaning the total administration budget will decrease by $58,000, Mascolo said.
The assistant principals are necessary to deal with the size of the schools, and also, to conduct evaluations of all the teachers who work at those schools, said Edward Strumello, chairman of the school board.
Strumello said an administrator from the central office now helps perform the teacher evaluations at those schools, and it would be better to have someone on site, in the building, to handle the job.
“It makes it a more effective evaluation, a better evaluation process,” Strumello said.
DiStasi has a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, a Master of Science degree in education from the University of Bridgeport and a sixth year degree in educational leadership from the University of Bridgeport, according to his resume.
Sojka holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, a Master of Science degree in special education and sixth year degree in foundational studies from Southern Connecticut State University, and an administrative certificate from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
