New Hillhouse Principal Chosen

The Superintendent states that the Central Office worked with the SPMT on the decision to hire Billy. That is really a stretch. He was not the choice of the staff at all.
This shows the complete lack of respect these administrators have for the input of those who truly know.
Sweeting lasted a year; Worthy a little better ; 5 years and the triumvirate of Diah, Daniels and Baker lasted , what 2-3 years.
How long do you give Billy?

How many blue sheets will there be before the exodus of staff members starts at Hillhouse for hiring yet another outsider? Staff members will start walking before the end of the year. They are tired of not being heard and once again Hillhouse teaching experience was overlooked for promotion! Ill bet all my frozen step raises youll see teacher exodus before spring on that blue sheet! You cant continue to hire outsiders and expect to retain staff. He never taught at Hillhouse or worked at Hillhouse as an admin.
Blue sheet resignations are coming!

The newly appointed principal of Hillhouse has not yet started his job, yet self-appointed anxious prognosticators of gloom, doom and other aspects negativity and failure have already predicted a mass exodus of Hillhouse staff.
Mr. Billy worked in two New Haven Public schools, prior to assuming an administrative position at New Britain High School, one of the largest in the state. He has many years of experience as a professional educator. He is a PhD candidate. He is a young family man with a promising future in public education.
There is absolutely no policy or precedent that requires the superintendent or the BOE to limit their selection of principals to current NHPS administrators or current administrators at schools in need of new principals.
The objective of the NHPS ought to be to select the most qualified, experienced candidate. Through a deliberate process, and based on information to which only they were privvy, the superintendent and the BOE decided that Mr. Billy was the wisest choice for the position.
Many of us hope that those who think they see a massive exodus of disgruntled Hillhouse staff because of this selection are proved to be false prophets.
Being a principal of any large urban school is a tough, consuming job, dealing with thousands of students and parents, hundreds of staff members, a central office school bureaucracy, the BOE, politicians and community members, and facing all the societal and economic issues, challenges and controversies in leading an inner city school.
Some commenters don't know the man, have never met him, and know nothing beyond what they have read in this very brief article.
Give Mr. Billy a fair chance to take up this position. Show him some support and encouragement. And stop judging him and condemning before he has even started his first day in office!

Thomas Alfred Paine an Ed.D is not a Ph.D. Much less rigorous degree. Dont mean to split hairs over that point but just sayin. Also, we , the staff at JHHS are not impressed by meaningless degrees. We have seen many come and go so, Mr. TAP please excuse our negativity but that is what happens after years of being misled and lied to by administrators.

It must be extremely frustrating to have had four different administrative teams at Hillhouse and two(?) different Superintendents. Particularly if Hillhouse staff and its SPMT feel they had little or no input. However, the points raised by "TAP" are valid and compelling. The reality is that Mr. Billy does appear to be very qualified and genuinely familiar with the New Haven educational/political environment. This is justification enough to allow him the opportunity to present his skills. The responsibility of being the main leader of a large high school such as Hillhouse will be intense and all-consuming. He will need every advantage to succeed. If Mr. Billy is given strong staff and BOE support, and his skills are as advertised, his success will finally be the success of everyone at Hillhouse.

I am hoping that Mr. Antoine Billy is given a fair opportunity by all at Hillhouse in the community-- students, teachers, families, administrators -- to find success in his new appointment for the betterment of students and for the faculty and staff. I appreciate how difficult teaching at Hillhouse has been for some years+ and hear the frustration expressed by JHHS teachers commenting here (& on other NHPS articles) as well as the impassioned testimony at the BOE some weeks ago.

Mr. Billy is in for a tough job, no doubt. Students deserve to thrive at Hillhouse; teachers and staff members deserve support. Just wondering if some amount of ire at the District can be suspended and not turned directly onto Mr. Billy and support him getting started in a way that doesn't doom his appointment before he has even gotten to work as the Hillhouse principal. Wishing Mr. Billy the best of luck. Hoping he is a great principal for students, teachers, staff, and families.

No one wants Billy to fail, including the staff. No one is knocking him for who he is or what he has achieved. The issue is who he is not and that is the other highly educated positive black male role model. The one who has already proven himself to be a highly effective educator in that School before their very eyes. The one who used to come into their classrooms and work with them on instructional practice. The one whose AP passing rate was probably the highest in the district when he taught in the school. (Does central office even know that) The one who connected with ALL kids at every level and held them accountable for their behavior. The one who believed in the students ability to succeed and inspired those kids who may not have believed in themselves.
Maybe Billy will do the same? Hopefully so! But the point is the staff already had the leader that was proven in their eyes and that was totally discounted. It is not Billys fault but he will now be held to the standard of the proven leader they wanted. The community will pray for his success like they always do.
And you cant knock teachers for leaving after you hired another person they dont know.
The last person they didnt know or vote for was Sweeting and how did that turn out? Or the 7 before that!
The question you should be asking yourself is how many years of experience have left the building with every outsider that has been hired for the last 10 years?

@LennyMoore24
An Ed.D and a Ph.D are both doctorate degrees. You CLAIM not to split hairs over a difference, but you do just that by minimizing the academic rigor required to obtain a Ed.D. A lot of educators have Ed.D's.
One wonders if your motive was intended to demean or belittle the academic credentials of a candidate who was not your choice or the choice of some of the Hillhouse staff?
If that is your inent, that is unfortunate.
Mr. Billy has been appointed principal. Some staff may be disappointed by the process or decision, but the die has been cast, and you have a principal.
If you feel he's unqualified, you may leave and go to another school. That is your prerogative. But for the sake of the school community don't stay there and be a negative impediment or obstruction to any progress of the new leadership.
Speak your mind, discuss your differences and grievances with respect. Meet with the new principal and find ways, make ways to work together for the benefit of the school and its students. But by no means exhibit the disruptive and divisive character of a disgruntled employee and conduct yourself as a thorn in the side of this new principal.
Give Mr. Billy a fair chance. Work with him where you can. Disagree when necessary. Some staff members may be disappointed, but that should not be allowed interfere with the job of teaching kids in their classrooms. Focus on that.
By the way, how many of the more than 100 faculty members at Hillhouse appointed you to be their representative and spokesperson?

I get the frustration, but the arguments are weak. I beelive the last principal at Hillhouse was an administrator at Beecher and ESUMS but he decided to leave. So being an in district person should not be a prerequisite for the job. The job of a high school principal is extremely difficult, and it will be even more difficult if the staff is against the person in the seat before they even arrive. Also, I am not sure where LennyMoore24 got his Doctorate Degree, but do your research. The EdD vs PhD comparison comes down to only a few core concepts. The EdD focuses on individuals who want to apply their knowledge to practice, while the PhD focuses more on academic research and developing new fields of inquiry. The Ph.D.'s focus on developing new fields of inquiry is what increases the amount of coursework. Very few EdD programs do not require the successful completion of a comprehensive exam and a dissertation. Talk to any person with an EdD or PhD who has successfully written and defended a dissertation; there is nothing less rigorous about it. Just sayin.

3 - 4 years teaching experience?