New Seymour superintendent wants to take district to ‘next level’

SEYMOUR — Susan Compton doesn’t need to be here — she chose to.

The new Seymour schools superintendent has four decades of experience in the field, including 16 as a superintendent — and had a professorship lined up in her native Kentucky when she left her last post as a superintendent in New Jersey in June after eight years.

But she said the chance to be Seymour’s top educator was just too good an opportunity to turn down — and reflects well on the school district and community as a whole.

“Sometimes you feel like you have a calling,” she said during an interview Tuesday. “This district felt like the right fit.”

A number of factors contributed, she said.

For one, the size of the school district: just over 2,000 students in four schools — allowing educators to “name and claim” every student.

“It’s not too big, it’s not too small,” she said. “It gives the opportunity where you can get to know each and every student. The size of the district is just ideal.”

Another factor: the people working there already.

“It’s an outstanding school system,” she said. “They have an outstanding administrative team. They have an outstanding staff, wonderful students, and a great school community that works together with the town. I hope I’ll provide the leadership to take them to the next level.”

She said the most important first step as a new superintendent will be getting to know the school district even more, getting feedback from educators and parents, and assessing what improvements can be made.

But she already has an eye on a couple of goals — among them more long-term strategic planning, a STEAM academy, and possibly forming a partnership with a nearby college or university on an early college/associate degree program.

“The most important goal will always be student achievement and success,” she said.

“I’m also big in supporting the arts and athletics, and I also value extracurricular programs,” she said. “If a student is involved in extracurricular activities, research shows they’ll be more successful.”

Board of Education Chairman Ed Strumello last month said Compton brings a wealth of expertise to the position.

“For me personally, I liked her experience and that she had been a superintendent in multiple places,” Strumello said. “I thought that was important in my mind.”

Though she’s been on the job only a week after being hired at an Aug. 16 Board of Education meeting, she said the school district’s educators had a “phenomenal” convocation assembly where Associate Superintendent Vonda Tencza spoke about the importance of gratitude — always a bedrock principle, but even more so during a pandemic.

Tencza was followed by 2021-22 Teacher of the Year Deirdre Sponheimer, who Compton said gave “absolutely the best speech I’ve ever heard from a teacher.”

Sponheimer, herself a product of the Seymour school system, spoke about how her past teachers had impacted her life, and why that made her want to return to Seymour as an educator herself.

“She truly gave a phenomenal speech from the heart that touched everybody in that auditorium,” Compton said. “I’ve been in the business 40-something years and I’ve never heard an address like that.”

Despite all the positives, Compton said she knows there will also be challenges, not the least of which will be continuing to navigate a $35 million annual operation through COVID-19.

Several of the questions during her final interview touched on the issue of how she would go about repairing relationships that have been damaged recently involving school administrators, staff and the community.

The tenure of her predecessor in the superintendent’s job, Michael Wilson, ended abruptly last year after some parents disagreed with the school district’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And during the public comment portion of the meeting at which Compton was hired, several speakers harangued the school board regarding the mask mandate for public schools.

“It’s been hard on everybody. I lived it in New Jersey as well,” she said. “Everybody is excited about in-person learning and getting back to some type of normal school. We’re doing the best we can.”

She said another goal will be to create a “communication advisory committee” of different members of the community to have an open dialogue on issues.

“I think it’s important we hear all voices,” Compton said. “We have to hear people out. We have to listen.”

At the same time, that doesn’t give people the right to be abusive.

“People have a right to express themselves, but you’ve got to do it in a respectful manner,” she said. “It’s a process of being respectful, and you expect people to be respectful back.”

And regardless of anything else, she said the students themselves will always come first.

“Every child counts in Seymour, every day,” Compton said. “Every kid is important and I definitely want to emphasize that.”

Compton