Principals at Northeast, Skinner Road "Leaving"

The principals at and elementary schools are "leaving the district," school system administrators said on Tuesday.

That was the explanation attached to a letter forwarded to Vernon Patch today. The letter, dated June 18, was addressed to teachers and parents at the two schools from Director of Pupil Personnel Patricia Buell and Assistant Superintendent of Schools Deborah Murasso.

Skinner Road Principal Matthew Wlodarczyk was in a morning assembly and could not be reached. 

At Northeast School, Principal Michael DeBellis said, "I will do whatever I can to support the district, and assist with the transition."

The letter from school officials said search committees are being formed to find replacements and called for two parental volunteers and two certified staff members from each school to serve on the respective committees.

An application deadline of June 22 was mentioned for any potential committee members. The members will be "randomly drawn from the names submitted," according to the letter.

Online surveys for both staff and parents are being set up for search committee input.

A copy of the letter is attached to the story.

Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway said the changes are part of the reform initiative that was put on the table several months ago as part of a state ranking that places Vernon officially 26th from the bottom in terms of performing school systems.

Vernon Patch requested access to the disciplinary records of both principals, per freedom of information law. Conway - first verbally and then in writing - said neither has even a slap on the wrist.

There are no, "discipline letters, letters of reprimand, or the like in either file," she said.

She continued, "Change is difficult … but we cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results."

Conway said she has finally received an explanation on the "bottom 30" ranking by state education officials. Vernon is 26th from the bottom in terms of a  Connecticut Mastery Test and Connecticut Academic Performance Test performance index, she said. 

On a scale of 100 based on the percentage of students reaching basic subject levels, Vernon sits at 61.7, tied with Killingly and just behind Windsor, which has a 61.8 rating.

With 35.8, New Britain is at the bottom, while New Canaan sits atop the state rankings at 84.8, Conway said.

"We must change, and we must change thoughtfully, planfully, and purposefully," she said. "We have been doing things the same way for a long time and things have to be done differently."