School Superintendent announces pending retirement
Published on September 13th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly will officially retire from the district's top administrative post this January and resume his responsibilities on a consultant basis until next June.
Connelly's departure, which was publicly announced at a School Committee meeting Tuesday night, leaves the school department's entire administrative office void of a veteran presence.
Former Assistant Superintendent Joseph Casey, now Superintendent of neighboring Melrose's school system, vacated his post last June. Casey, a five-year Stoneham administrator when he accepted the Melrose job, will be joined by Business Manager Greg Zammuto, who announced that he had accepted a parallel business office post in the adjacent municipality last month.
According to the Superintendent, who served as Stoneham's top school administrator for nine-and-a-half years, he has long considered stepping down from his role, especially since his retirement benefits maxed-out.
And while the departure of both Casey and Zammuto forced him to wrestle over the decision to retire, the 40-year-veteran educator and administrator believes the time has come for someone else to lead the school system.
"This is my 40th year in education. I've spent 16-years as a principal, 22-years as a Superintendent and [two] years as a teacher. To be totally honest with you, this has been a possibility for quite a while, although not something I've planned," Connelly said of his retirement.
"My retirement benefits maxed-out quite a while ago and I stayed on because of the [fiscal] situation in Stoneham. But at this point, this appears to be the best time for me to leave," the Superintendent added.
According to School Committee Chair Kristen Russo, who released a prepared statement on Connelly's announcement prior to Tuesday night's School Committee meeting, the Superintendent deserved praise for his effective and solid leadership of the district.
Because of the changeover in the system's administrative office in recent months, Russo adds, the School Committee has convinced Connelly to remain on a pier-diem, or per-day pay basis until the end-of-June.
That rate, based upon his current salary level of $131,000, say school officials, will be set at $500 a day, although the exact number of work days being asked of Connelly has yet to be determined.
However, according to school officials, retaining the Superintendent until June will be cost than paying his current salary, as he will not be in the administrative office every day.
"Dr. Connelly's resignation is accepted with great regret," Russo said. "The School Committee recognizes Dr. Connelly's invaluable leadership and contribution to the Stoneham Public Schools, particularly during the recent years of such challenging financial times."
"However, he has agreed to continue working on a per diem basis though the end of June. This will provide adequate time to complete a replacement search...[and] will also ensure needed stability within the system," the statement adds, referring to Connelly's ability to continue working on the FY'08 budget and collective bargaining negotiations.
According to the outgoing Superintendent, he reflects back upon his career in Stoneham on a two-tier basis, with one period of growth and educational prosperity, and the other more recent epoch of financial crisis.
Despite the difficulty of the latter and most recent times, the Stoneham native looks-back proudly upon his entire career, particularly his and his counterparts' ability to build a great system with four new schools, and later stem-off a worsening budget crunch by tapping creative revenue streams.
"Stoneham has always been an important part of my life. And I look back at my 9.5 years in Stoneham with great pride and enjoyment. My administrative team, the School Committee's I've worked with over the years, the teaching and support staff, and the parents, they've all been supportive over the years."
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