New Haven Independent

Rose Coggins and Lonnie Garris (pictured), principals of Wilbur Cross High School and James Hillhouse High School respectively, are among five high-ranking administrators who are retiring at the end of this year. Schools chief Reggie Mayo announced the retirements at Monday night’s school board meeting.

The departures come as New Haven prepares to make major changes to the school system. The mayor’s nascent school reform drive aims cut the city dropout rate in half, close the achievement gap by 2015, and ensure all students can go to college.

Also retiring at the end of this year: Althea Norcott, assistant principal at Hillhouse; Charles Warner, director of instruction for the city schools; and Willie Freeman, supervisor of social studies.

These top staff aren’t leaving because of the school reform drive, Mayo said. Each has been working for the district for at least 35 years. Each decided to retire for personal reasons, he said.

The number of retirements isn’t unusual, but the district will feel the impact of losing the heads of its two major high schools at the same time, Mayor John DeStefano noted.

Running Wilbur Cross, which has 1,400 students, is a “major, major operation,” Superintendent Mayo said. Hillhouse has 1,000 students.

“It’s going to be tough finding people to fill those jobs,” said Mayo.

The district has already started a search for new principals. It’s casting a wide net, searching outside the school district, in part through ads in The New York Times.

The job openings could be “a great opportunity” for a motivated candidate, given the reform initiative under way, DeStefano said.

The five administrators will each get a $10,000 “early retirement” bonus. By contract, administrators qualify for that bonus if they notify the school system before Jan. 1 that they intend to retire. The aim of the bonus is to give the district enough time to look for a replacement.

Wanted: External Affairs Chief

In other job news, the school board Monday approved the creation of a new position to replace Sue Weisselberg, the long-serving school construction czar who left at the end of November to work at the state Capitol.

The district is not going to hire a new school construction chief. The mayor’s $1.5 billion program to redo every city school is winding down: 31 city schools have been rebuilt or built new; four more new schools are in construction, and three are in design. Chief Operating Officer Will Clark will take on the remaining school construction responsibilities.

Before she left, Weisselberg’s duties had shifted into other realms, including organizing parents, lobbying at the Capitol, and beginning to usher in reforms.

The district’s new position, called chief of external affairs, will take on about half of Weisselberg’s duties. The person will be responsible for managing “external relationships related to educational issues such as the School Reform initiative” and “other policy and legislative areas.”

The person would coordinate the PROMISE program, which aims to give college scholarships to New Haven students who stick by a pledge to get good grades in school. The external affairs chief would help organize parent groups, and would organize an “Accountability Group” whose task is to monitor the school reform drive.

No salary range was specified for the job, which would be in executive management. Now that the position has been created, the opening will be posted shortly on the district’s new employment web site.