Charter Revision Question #6

This is the second in an expected seven part series discussing the Charter Revision Questions that are located on this year’s ballot in Waterbury. This post will focus on Question #6.

QUESTION 6:

Shall the Charter be revised to allow the Board of Education to hire the superintendent of Schools without using civil service procedures?

This revision eliminates the requirement that the Board of Education appoint the Superintendent of Schools through civil service procedures.

This is a Charter change that is, in my opinion, long overdue. Waterbury is the only school district in Connecticut that requires Superintendent Candidates to take a civil service exam to be considered for the job. In fact at one point Waterbury was one of only two districts in the entire country that requires such a test.

My reason for backing the approval of this question is based on a concern that the presence of a civil service exam has been limiting the number of candidates for Superintendent of the Waterbury Public Schools. Furthermore, by limiting the number of candidates, we may be (inadvertently) reducing the quality of the candidates that are brought before the Board of Education.

As an example of my concerns, I would like to discuss a Superintendent search that took place in Waterbury many years ago. (The Superintendent search in question predates the search that resulted in the hiring of Dr. Snead.)

After the Civil Service exam, the Waterbury Board of Education was presented with three names. As a result of the rules of Civil Service, the Board of Education was required to choose one of these three candidates. Each of these candidates had flaws in their resumes that could have been considered fatal.

Candidate 1 had no experience in an urban school system.

Candidate 2 had been fired from a school district in Rhode Island under suspicion of the misuse of funds. Candidate 2 was later hired by a different school system and arrested for misuse of funds in that district.

Candidate 3 had been arrested for indecent exposure at a rest stop in New York.

The Waterbury Board of Education hired Candidate 1; however they realized that none of these three individuals were a good fit for Waterbury.

If this change is approved, when the Board of Education begins its deliberations for Dr. Snead's successor, they will be able to publicly vet as many candidates as they choose. They will not be limited to the top three scores on a test. This will allow for a more open discussion and a higher standard for the candidates who are looking to be our next Superintendent.

As with Questions 7 and 8, I encourage all voters to support this proposal. I will be posting the information on Question 5 tomorrow.

As before, if you have any further questions, let me know.