NORWICH – Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan will remain with the Norwich school district for five more years, according to the terms of a contract approved by the board of education Wednesday night.
The contract will extend through June 30, 2015. O’Sullivan received no salary increase under the terms of the agreement. He currently receives $152,743 in compensation per year. His most recent raise, of 3 percent, was awarded in September when his contract was last renewed.
The board voted to approve the new agreement by a vote of 4 to 3, with board members Sally Chirlin, Priscilla Johnson and Tom Morrone dissenting.
The decision was made following a heated public comment, in which several community members registered their concerns over the superintendent’s contract extension being on the agenda at all.
Board member-elect Linda Horovitz hoisted a packet she said contained letters she’d received from teachers.
“Our morale is worse than ever,” she said.
Horovitz went on to say she had spent the day contacting other districts to learn what school boards do at their final meeting.
The message she said she got from each of the more than 20 schools she contacted was that no major decisions were made at the last meeting. Doing otherwise, she said, would be considered “unethical,” “vindictive” and “unprofessional.”
Retired district employee Paula Evans “strongly recommended that no contracts be extended” by the board. She was echoed by community member Pete Smith, who asked that the items be postponed until the new board was seated.
“There is just too much controversy,” he said.
Norwich resident Mark DeMellier was the only one who offered a different view regarding the end of year decisions. Referencing May of 1995 when Norwich was embroiled over the issue of reorganizing Perry Browne and Stanford Gibson grade levels, DeMellier said the school board president at that time had refused to back down from making the controversial decision despite having been defeated in the recent election. That school board president, he said, was Don Chirlin.
“I encourage this board to hold to your convictions,” he said, as he urged them to follow the precedent set by Chirlin.
Chirlin, a retired Norwich teacher, has been an outspoken critic of the current administration and board.
His wife Sally, who currently sits on the board, read a prepared statement at the beginning of the meeting, in which she again asked the board to table both the superintendent’s contract and all personnel recommendations until the July 6 organizational meeting.
If that did not occur, she said she would “vote no on any and all personnel changes,” with the exception of position reinstatements.
Following public comment, a motion was made by Morrone and seconded by Johnson to table all personnel recommendations. However, the motion failed 4-3.
Johnson made a second motion, to separate out the reinstatements of Guidance Counselor Amanda Clark, Library Media Specialist Patricia Nazzitto and Teaching Assistant Ericka Behr as well as the unpaid leave of Elaina van der Sommen. These items were voted on separately, and each passed 7-0.
The remaining items on the personnel recommendations consent agenda – including coaching and extracurricular appointments and the appointment of Kisten Giglio as the Middle School’s Interim Assistant Principal on an internship basis effective Aug. 1 – were approved 4-3. Johnson, Chirlin and Morrone again cast the dissenting votes.
The meeting was the last for School Board President Bob Patterson and Vice President Kathy Coates. At the district’s organizational meeting on July 6, new board members Linda Horovitz and Heather Collier will take their seats on the board.