Camilleri steps down as Board of Education chairman

CROMWELL — Board of Education Chairman Michael J. Camilleri is stepping down from the board after 81⁄2 years, he said in a letter to Town Clerk JoAnn Doyle.

The letter was sent Friday and his resignation is effective June 19. Vice-Chairman Jeff Matrullo will take over as chairman.

“It feels like the right decision,” Camilleri said. He has been a member of the school board since 2009.

In his letter, Camilleri said he was “honored” to have served on the board, adding, “I have appreciated the chance to play a role in supporting our students, families, teachers, staff and administrators.”

He is an attorney for Pratt & Whitney, and said that role, and the impact on it from the coronavirus pandemic, was his reason for stepping down.

“I can no longer dedicate the time necessary to effectively serve my community,” he said.

“Particularly with the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 for schools throughout the country, being able to dedicate that time is more important now than ever,” he said.

Camilleri thanked his family for their support and sacrifices, acknowledging “it is not always easy having a father and husband in public ser

vice.”

He also thanked his board colleagues as well as the members of the Town Council and Board of Finance.

“We have not always agreed,” he told the councilors and finance board members, “but I have always appreciated your willingness to serve your community.”

Doing so, in whatever format, “is a noble calling,” Camilleri said,

He also thanked “all those who serve and support our students – our teachers, staff, SROs (school resource officers) and administrators.”

“I am lucky to have been able to work with so many skilled professionals in the Cromwell Public Schools who have dedicated their professional lives to making sure our students received a top-notch education but, more importantly, that they help guide them to become productive citizens, well-rounded artists and athletes and good people.”

Their “passion and dedication” have been challenged anew, he said, by the pandemic.

Camilleri closed by thanking the residents and voters of town, “who provided me with this opportunity to serve our community. I am truly honored and humbled.”

“It’s been a pleasure and an honor working with Mike,” Mayor Enzo Faienza said in an email Monday morning.

“Together, we have done much through the years working to support and improve our school system,” Faienza said, adding,

“He has brought such a calming presence to the board and was always the voice of reason.”

“Mike and I could always reason and work together through anything that we had to deal with,” he said.

Faienza said he and Camilleri started “our journey of public service over 10 years ago … and I will truly miss working with him.”

“I totally understand his decision” to step down, Faienza said, adding, “One thing that will never change is the great friendship we have developed through the years.”

Camilleri’s resignation is “a loss to the town,” Board of Finance Chairman Julius C. Neto said Monday.

They did not always agree, Neto acknowledged. Despite that, “I will miss working with Mike.”

Whatever their disagreements, “We always had the same interest in common: what was in the best interests of the town and, in particular, the children,” Neto said.

In an email Monday, Superintendent of Schools Enza Macri thanked Camilleri for his service to the school system and especially his efforts on behalf of students.

“His passion and advocacy for education and the needs of our students will be greatly missed,” she said. “Although, I was only able to work with Chairman Camilleri for one year, it was very evident that he cares greatly about the Cromwell School System.

“I wish him the very best and thank him greatly for the long hours he missed with his family” while he worked for the school system,” she said.

Camilleri