Schools chief takes job near home

Thiery: Region 10 ideal opportunity, not reaction to school closure critics

HADDAM — HaddamKillingworth’s nineyear schools chief informed the community this week he will leave the district to head the BurlingtonHarwinton regional education system so he can work closer to home.

Howard Thiery, superintendent of schools for Region 17, was appointed to lead Region 10 Monday night by its Board of Education. He made the announcement viaemail.

“During my time here in RSD 17, I have had the privilege of working with a wonderfully talented and deeply committed staff, faculty, leadership team, and Board of Education,” he wrote.

Thiery said he was not actively searching for another job, instead, the opening presented itself as a chance to pursue “other professional opportunities I think are good for my family and I.”

He will replace Interim Superintendent Jeff Linton, who took over in March after former schools head Alan Beitman resigned, according to the Spartan Scroll, Burlington’s Lewis Mills High School student newspaper.

“Over the last nine years, we have worked together to bring programs, systems and structures forward that have made our school district widely recognized and honored for its work, achievement and depth of caring for our children,” Thiery said in his email to parents and the community.

His last day will be determined after the two boards of education negotiate an agreeable timetable, Thiery said Tuesday.

The Save HES group, a grassroots effort of residents, parents and other concerned Haddam citizens, have said Thiery was driving force behind the controversial decision to close Haddam Elementary School.

The education panel’s decision to move kindergarten through thirdgraders at HES to Burr District Elementary School, about four miles away, and turn the middle school, which now houses fifth through eighth grades, into an intermediate facility with the addition of fourth graders, met with much public outcry.

Save HES vehemently opposed turning the school in historic Higganum village into apartments, a plan that was eventually scrapped. In early June, voters approved the town buying the facility from the board for $450,000 over the course of four years.

In May, the initial $42.6 million 201920 education budget, which represented a 0.5 percent increase over current spending, was rejected 1,483 to 1,235, by a 248vote margin, in unofficial numbers. Killingworth residents voted 750 to 336 for the budget, while Haddam taxpayers voted 1,147 to 485 against it.

The BOE’s $42.57 million budget was approved June 4 by Killingworth 782 to 245, but failed in Haddam 999 to 554. In total, the spending package was approved 1,336 to 1,244.

Thiery has repeatedly said consolidating the two schools would save town $1 million. However, the board never provided numbers to back that claim, Save HES members have said. He disagrees.

In all, the new budget represents a $1.2 million cost savings, said Thiery, who is proud of both his and the school board’s accomplishments.

“In nine years, the district went from 77th to 16th (in the ranking of Connecticut public schools) on a 0.4 average percent budget increase across the same time period,” he said.

Thiery points to HaddamKillingworth High School earning the National Blue Ribbon High School honor in 2018 and 1988, as well as Burr Elementary School in Higganum winning the Connecticut Association of Schools School of the Year for 201819.

“Mr. Thiery has brought intelligence, strength and a wide array of skills to his work. In doing so, he has brought District 17 to higher levels of achievement and recognition as one of Connecticut’s best school systems,” District 17 Board of Education Chairwoman Joanne Nesti said in a letter to the community.

“Howard Thiery leaves us an academically stronger school district than the one he first joined nine years ago. We will always be grateful for that accomplishment,” Nesti wrote.

Not everyone, however, agreed with that assessment. Parent and Save HES member Jennifer Petrillo said she is pleased to learn of his departure.

“I’m very very very ecstatic. It’s exactly what we needed and wanted. That’s why we got the petition out there,” and appealed to the Board Of Education for many months to reverse its decision, she said.

The Haddam group came up with a hashtag for the controversy, #hkunites, in direct response to what members felt was a large disservice to residents. Nesti believes otherwise. “He leaves his successor a solid foundation upon which to build and grow, thanks to the capable and committed team of administrators he has brought to the District, and the guidance he has given them in their important work for the students of our two communities,” she said in her statement.

The education system of both Haddam and Killingworth enjoyed both a high level of instruction and achievement over his tenure, which he attributes to the efforts of both staff and education board members, Thiery said.

“This school district has raised its aspirations for excellence for every student, as reflected in, now, our high school is 13th in the state, our district is 16th in the state. We get professionals from all over the state coming to watch our reading instruction. Our preengineering program at the high school is probably the finest in the state,” he added.

About 90 percent of graduating students go on to higher education, as compared to 70 to 75 percent in a typical district.

The Board of Education is slated to meet Tuesday evening, when Nesti expects members will begin to flesh out what they’ll be looking for in a new superintendent, a role they take very seriously, she said.

“Where we are in the process is just beginning,” Nesti said.

“We are committed to working thoughtfully and expeditiously to give the people of Haddam and Killingworth a Superintendent and a school district of which they can continue to be proud.”

Thiery