Yet another superintendent is resigning this week over political divisions that he says have stalled educational progress in his Maine district.
Superintendent Steven Connolly of MSAD 75 will step down at the end of the school year in June, News Center Maine reported. “While the long hours each week, the volume of evening meetings and events, and hard decisions were known parts of the role, I find I have not been effective at managing the implicit divisions that exist based on political, personal, and ideological beliefs which, in my view, are stagnating the opportunity for systemic educational progress,” Connolly wrote in his resignation letter to the school board, according to the website.
In a much larger Ohio district, Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack resigned suddenly from Akron Public Schools this week after less than two years on the job. School Board President Derrick Hall called the decision mutual between Fowler and the board, which has already appointed Mary B. Outley, the district’s executive director of elementary education, to serve as interim superintendent.
“As the board searches for the next superintendent, it will look for candidates who will unify our parents, educators, students and community by leading with sensitivity, collaboration and an equity-centered approach,” the school board president said in a statement.
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And in California, Orange USD’s interim superintendent, Edward Velasquez, quit after just a month on the job. Velasquez was installed as temporary leader after the controversial and sudden firing of Gunn Marie Hansen, who had been superintendent of the southern California district since 2017.
Finally, Ed Dickens has resigned from the superintendency at Waverly City School in Ohio, after having worked in the district for 25 years, the Chillicothe Gazette reported.
No political divisions here
Several districts also put new leaders in place this week, including:
- Stefania Raschilla was named superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts. Raschilla is currently the chief instructional officer for Springfield Public Schools.
- Assistant Superintendent Todd Guice will become the next superintendent of Ouachita Parish Schools in Louisiana this summer, replacing the retiring Don Coker.
- Richard Holmes will take over as superintendent of Utah’s Washington County School District when Superintendent Larry Bergeson retires on June 30.
- Jeff Fastnacht has been chosen as the next Superintendent of Bismarck Public Schools in North Dakota.
- Interim superintendent Christine Bourne has been elevated to superintendent of the Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union in Vermont.
