Lack of support frustrated NL’s Rivera
School superintendent says there was no single reason behind his decision to retire
New London – Outgoing school superintendent Manuel J. Rivera said there is no single reason that led him to his decision to retire.
During an interview Monday, the 65-year-old New London native said he wants to spend more time with family and to guard his own personal health while continuing to work on long-term visions for the district – just not at the breakneck pace that he has been going.
While pleased with the direction of the district, Rivera was also candid about his frustration with lack of support for the schools by city leadership and the state.
“The next superintendent is really going to have wrestle with this question of diminishing resources and also keep things moving forward,” Rivera said. “That is probably going to mean doing things differently.”
Rivera informed the school board earlier this month that he would like to leave by Aug. 31, a move that surprised many since he has a contract that would have kept him in New London until 2021. The school board is now beginning the process of finding an interim superintendent while looking to firm up Rivera’s departure date. His contract calls for a 90-day notice.
When he left his superintendent’s position in Norwalk in 2015 to come to New London, Rivera said he saw what appeared to be a perfect fit – his own personal experiences of leading school districts and a school system in need of a boost during a time of transition.
At the time, New London had an interim superintendent and was in disarray after nearly hiring Chicago educator Terrence Carter – a man whose resume did not hold up under scrutiny.
“I thought to myself, ‘My goodness, New London is better than this,’” Rivera said.
Rivera, who still has family in New London, said the opportunity to come here, from a personal standpoint was wonderful, and from a professional standpoint, “I thought ‘Wow, here they really could use an experienced superintendent, and it also seems like everybody’s ready for change.’”
In 2014, voters had overwhelmingly affirmed the City Council’s approval of up to $168 million to complete the facilities portion of the transformation of the school system into the state’s first all-magnet school district.
Rivera said what he saw was a unique opportunity where the city of New London and state were aligned and ready for change.
Despite the momentum of the school district at the time, Rivera said he was disappointed when his first budget request, which contained a 2.5 percent increase, was shot down by the City Council, a move that helped to avoid a tax increase.
“I was stunned,” Rivera said. “It was a clear indication to me and others in the public education system that you really couldn’t count on elected City Council officials to be there and they weren’t. That was incredibly disappointing. I don’t understand it, and I will never expect to — especially from people who ran on a platform of supporting public education and supporting magnet schools.”
City Councilor Martha Marx was among councilors to vote against the fiscal year 2017 school budget that year and said it came down to a lack of information and transparency.
“I completely support the schools and the magnet school project,” Marx said. “But there was very little transparency in the Board of Education budget. I had a very difficult time getting answers. I can’t support something blindly without knowing what exactly the increases were going for. I needed answers to my questions before I spend my taxpayers’ money.”
Another blow to the district came in 2016 when the district lost $1.2 million when, despite a jump from 11 percent to 21 percent in out-of-district students, Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School failed to meet the 25 percent criteria for state magnet school funds. In addition to $7,085 for every out-of-district student, the state provides $3,000 for every New London student in a magnet school where the number of out-of-district students has reached 25 percent of the total population.
Rivera said that despite some setbacks, he has worked with the school board and others in the district to put together strategic and operating plans, improve moral, retain teachers and set about to fill key management positions to move the magnet school initiative forward.
All the while, Rivera said he has set out to pull in private donors to boost the district’s offerings such as Brigaid’s chefs in schools program that has brought professional chefs to school cafeterias and gained nationwide attention.
The attention to the longterm vision of the district and formation of magnet pathways has led to not only an interest from students in other towns but an increase in New London students returning to the district, Rivera said.
“I’m pleased with where we are and how we’re moving forward. I just think we could have moved things a lot more quickly with some additional resources. Sometime you almost feel like a racehorse that’s chained to the gate,” Rivera said.
Rivera also adamantly disagrees with the critics who argue that the district has too much in the way of central office staff or that the magnet plan is not bringing in enough money.
“Without New London being a magnet school district, it would be a disaster,” Rivera said. “We would not be able to sustain services to the New London kids we have without the magnet funds. That is critically important for people to understand.”
Rivera said he plans to stay in New London, perhaps pick up a job as a consultant and continue his work with the Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut and the New London Education Foundation.
He encouraged the community to play an active role in supporting the school district and did not rule out a run at local political office.
The school board next meets on Aug. 8 to form the search committee for an interim superintendent and to start looking over resumes and setting up interviews.
Meanwhile, school board President Scott Garbini said the school board must also work on a transition plan while keeping the district running and preparing for the beginning of the school.
Garbini said he understood and shared some of Rivera’s frustrations.
“I guess I just still have some fight in me and I’m not ready to give up on our youth as we are their voice and they depend on us and hold us accountable for providing them with the best education we can,” Garbini said.