Region: New leader approved for Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School
Return of former Jennings principal to head Bennie Dover Jackson hailed as win for district
New London — The city’s middle school has a new leader.
The Board of Education on Thursday approved the appointment of a familiar face, Jose A. Ortiz, as director of the Bennie Dover Jackson Multi-Magnet Middle School.
It’s a new position and part of a restructuring in the district that eliminates middle school magnet school directors — there were three — in favor of districtwide magnet leaders.
Ortiz served as principal of C.B. Jennings Dual Language and International Elementary Magnet School from 2017 to 2018 before he left. His online resume shows Ortiz was working as the assistant superintendent for secondary schools redesign in Southbridge, Mass.
His return was heralded by school board members as a win for the district and the middle school, which was shaken by the arrest of a former behavioral specialist on charges he sexually assaulted two students in 2017.
School board President Manny Rivera, who hired Ortiz while superintendent, called Ortiz “incredibly professional, responsible, accountable, connected with young people,” and a “great role model.”
Jefferey Hart, the school board vice president, said Ortiz was highly regarded during his time in the district and would have the confidence of parents and students, “and that’s what we need.”
Ortiz has two decades of experience in a variety of roles at Connecticut schools and in Puerto Rico, where prior to his hire in New London he served as the chief academic officer for Scholastic International, spearheading academic and school improvement efforts at more than a dozen schools.
Ortiz rounds out a team at the middle school that now includes Assistant Principals Roland Dunham and Chris Vamvakides, the former assistant principal at Griswold Middle School who grew up in New London and spent 10 years teaching
at the high school. Vamvakides’ appointment also was approved by the school board Thursday.
Ortiz turned out to be one of the top candidates for both the high school and middle school director positions. The committee charged with vetting high school director candidates did not forward a name to Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie.
Ritchie said Thursday she has appointed Laurelle Texidor as interim director at the high school while the district seeks another candidate. Texidor is the director of the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut, which shares classes with New London High School.
The new hires were part of a restructuring announced by Ritchie in June that shook up and switched around school leaders, some of whom were placed on leave during the school scandal.
Former New London High School Principal William “Tommy” Thompson, for example, is leading the secondary-level curriculum, instruction and assessment. Alison Burdick, the former Bennie Dover principal and more recently director of the international education magnet program, was named as the new director of adult education.
The district’s magnet school programs are headed by Kate McCoy, whose title is now executive director of magnet programming and district operations, prek-12. McCoy has led the district’s transition into an all-magnet district.
Assistant director of magnet operations is Tim Enos, who also will serve as the leader of the International Education magnet pathway as the district seeks acceptance as an International Baccalaureate school.
Janet Farquhar will lead the districtwide STEM pathway and Kate Fioravanti will head the arts pathway.
Maureen Bransfield, the former director of the arts magnet program, has been named the director of climate and culture, part of a new department “focused on deeply supporting students’ social-emotional development, K-12,” Ritchie said.
Planned changes
Ritchie has said the changes in administration were planned and not associated with the scandal at the middle school that led to the arrest of former climate specialist Corriche Gaskin on sexual assault charges. She said the changes were in line with district goals and objectives.
The changes come even as city police said the investigation into Gaskin continues. He is charged with sexually assaulting two middle school girls in 2017 and other charges related to allowing underage students to see cellphone videos of his sexual acts with others, including some teachers.
A former middle school teacher, Melissa Rodriguez, was charged with failure to report abuse, neglect or injury to a child or imminent risk of serious harm to a child by a mandated reporter. A middle school paraprofessional and New London High School track coach, Jevon Elmore, was charged with second-degree sexual assault.
In addition to the police investigation, the state Office of the Child Advocate has begun its own probe of the district.
Child Advocate Sarah Eagan, in an emailed response to The Day this week, said matters related to the school are “broad and somewhat sprawling still.”
“We have made first rounds of information requests to the district and are continuing our own independent fact finding to guide the investigation process,” she said. “I think it is still preliminary to say what the central focus is, but broadly speaking, we are looking to understand the scope and breadth of how the district culture, policies, and practices reflect or do not reflect an adequate infrastructure for the promotion of student well-being and safety.”
“To that end, we are reviewing all of those areas, and examining all available child welfare records, to guide further investigative activities. We will move as expeditiously as we can, but we need to be thorough in our review,” she said.
Eagan said her office had not heard directly from Ritchie but had met with the district’s counsel, the law firm of Shipman and Goodwin, to discuss the scope of the review and pertinent questions pertaining to the investigation.
Ritchie, hired by the district last year, ordered a hiring audit upon discovery that two of three district employees facing criminal charges had previous felony criminal records. She said she expects that audit will be completed and ready for presentation to the school board this month.