Easton- Redding- Region 9 superintendent resigns
REDDING — EastonRedding- Region 9 Superintendent Rydell Harrison is resigning from his position overseeing the school district, ending a tumultuous 10- month tenure for the veteran educator.
The district announced his departure late Friday in a news release shared on Facebook and it comes less than two weeks after agreeing to a new contract with Harrison.
“Rather than continuing forward as the superintendent, I have decided to pursue opportunities outside of a traditional K- 12 setting that will allow me to fully engage my passion for education and commitment to improving outcomes for all students without the heavy burdens of district administration,” Harrison said in the release.
Harrison took over the district in August 2020, arriving amid the COVID- 19 crisis. He drew attention from the community in January, when he commented on the riots at the U. S. Capitol in a post on his personal Facebook page. He garnered national attention in February when a video of his snow day song went viral, but he was also at the center of a controversy surrounding a diversity, equity and inclusion survey that stirred reaction from the community.
As he announced his departure, the tri- board chairmen expressed feeling disheartened over Harrison’s decision.
Jon Stinson — the Easton Board of Education chairman — said though deeply saddened, and that the board recognized the “immense challenges of the past year,” Harrison faced while wishing him success in his next chapter.
Todd Johnston, the Region 9 chairman, cited an “action- packed” first year during which Harrison dealt with navigating the pandemic landscape while dealing with the retirement of several building heads. Johnston also referenced the launch of a diversity, equity and inclusion program, along with the challenge of simply managing the three district model.
“We thank him for his leadership and unwavering focus on the students, teachers, administration and parents throughout it all,” Johnston said.
The boards plan to discuss the process of appointing a new superintendent at a special meeting on June 30. Harrison was unavailable for comment Saturday.
“While this past school year has been challenging for all educators, I have been faced with a number of unique challenges as ER9’ s superintendent that led me to question whether or not the role was a good fit for me,” Harrison said in his statement. “Throughout my leadership career, I have worked hard to approach my work as an studentcentered educator first and an administrator second. Unfortunately, ER9’ s structure made it more difficult than I anticipated for me to strike the right balance between advancing my aspirational goals for education and handling the administrative tasks of three separate school districts.”
News of Harrison’s resignation comes less than a year after he stepped into the role and days after he had finalized a contract with the district.
Per the contract, Harrison agreed to stay on through June 2023. His annual base salary was listed at $ 225,000 with additional benefit allotments for health and dental in addition to life insurance. The contract also permitted Harrison 20 sick days and 25 vacation days a year with stipulations that he did not take off more than one week at a time without notifying the board or five consecutive days while the boards were in session.
The longtime educator has 20- plus years of working in schools under his belt. Harrison’s career, which he began as a music teacher, evolved as he worked his way up the ranks and through various states including New York, New Jersey and North Carolina. He eventually landed in Connecticut as the Watertown superintendent of schools, a position he had held from 2018 until he was hired by Easton- ReddingRegion 9 in August 2020
He experienced both backlash and praise during his months- long tenure with Easton- Redding- Region 9.
In January, some community members criticized Harrison after discovering a post on his personal Facebook page in which he condemned those that stormed the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some described feeling targeted by the post and Harrison apologized multiple times over Zoom meetings.
But the issue lingered. One Facebook commentator on Saturday said they were not surprised by Harrison’s resignation and that he “alienated half of the families” and should have “kept his personal politics and strong liberal ideologies to himself.”
In February, some community members applauded the superintendent when he appeared on “Good Morning America” debuting a snow day song and music video he had put together for students.
Still, Harrison faced even more opposition as he and other board members led efforts to spearhead an optional survey about diversity, equity and inclusion. Residents and parents rebelled against the survey, taking issue with questions around identity and sexuality, and questioning discussion of such topics in schools.
Despite months of pushback, the survey was passed and recently distributed to school community members. Though the resistance over a survey and his Facebook post were just the beginning of tough circumstances he navigated.
Harrison has also had to steer through the removal of the Pamela Goodpaster honoraria following an investigation that discovered she had “inappropriate conduct” with a student in the 1970s, as well as the pending resignation of Charles Schaub, a Joel Barlow English teacher who was arrested and charged with public indecency in April.
There was also the lengthy budget process the school board endured this year.
As comments about Harrison’s exit surface online, most community members expressed sadness on social media. One commentator who also mentioned not being surprised said it was “too much adversity to overcome,” while others described Harrison as a “gem,” “great leader” and “huge loss” to Easton and Redding.