New Milford names interim schools chief

NEW MILFORD — The New Milford Board of Education appointed Alisha DiCorpo interim superintendent Thursday night.

With Interim Superintendent Paul Smotas’ last day set for Friday, the board unanimously decided to place assistant superintendent DiCorpo in the school system’s top spot.

DiCorpo will lead the district while the board looks for a permanent replacement, whom they hope to have hired by February. Smotas started in the job in August and planned to hold the spot through December, but the board said in a release that “personal family matters” arose that necessitated him to leave the position early.

DiCorpo, who joined New Milford Public Schools in 2016, worked for Thomaston Public Schools, where she was the curriculum, instruction, and assessment director from 2014 until her departure, according to a news release. She was assistant principal, and later, principal at Black Rock Elementary School before that, the release read.

“The Board is excited to give Ms. DiCorpo this opportunity,” school board Chairwoman Angela Chastain said in a news release. “She has shown her dedication to the district time and again. She has been a stable force at Central Office throughout the last few years’ transitions. We look forward to her leadership.”

DiCorpo holds Central Connecticut State University bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and among other credentials, and earned her superintendent certification in 2016 from the University of Connecticut’s education school, according to the release.

For the permanent search, the board is working with an education firm called Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates. The firm is expected to do the search for free since a previous superintendent the firm helped the school system find, Kerry Parker, left after holding the position for about a year, Chastain confirmed last week.

The announcement of the school system’s new temporary superintendent signals the fourth interim leader the district has had since 2016.

This time, the board hopes to involve more parties in the search process, such as “a student or two” and some staff members, Chastain said in an interview last week.

“I think [the turnover is] unfortunate,” Chastain said last week. “I think every time we have a turnover in superintendent, I think our students lose out. I think that parents and staff are hungry for a long-term leader, and that is what we’re really working to find and ... we’re going to bring in some different stakeholders than we have done in the past in an attempt to find a candidate that really works and ... can lead the district for several years to come.”

Contributed photo DiCorpo