Norwalk’s interim superintendent likely to stay on into the summer

NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk interim Superintendent of Schools James Connelly appears likely to stay at his post past the end of his current contract on June 30, even if Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons is still expecting to line up a new superintendent by then.

“I don’t know if they’re going to get someone by July 1. My experience is they’ll get someone during the summer, but I think quite frankly July 1 is a little optimistic,” Connelly said.

“We expect to be in a position to select a new superintendent by mid-June, but he or she may not be able to start by July 1 (as Jim suspects),” Lyons said in an email. “I think Manny started in August.  We should be able to get the new superintendent in during July this time, but July 1 would be optimistic.”

Board members are very busy with their superintendent search, Connelly said.

“We do have some very good candidates and are actively reviewing their information now in order to select candidates for interviews in the next week or two,” Lyons said.

“I’m not sitting here looking at the calendar,” Connelly said, vowing to study the ballooning Special Education budget to see where program changes might be made so as not to unfairly hand off a big problem to the new super.

“As best I can I at least want to put a ribbon around next year and have next year structured,” Connelly said.

Connelly said $1 million needs to be shifted in the 2015-2016 school operating budget to beef up the Special Education account, so as not to come up short later. Lyons said, “This is going to be a big topic when we interview the superintendent candidates.”