Reggie Mayo survives his last school board meeting.
After two decades of running the city’s public schools, Reggie Mayo’s had a lot of practice with every part of the superintendent’s job, including saying goodbye.
For the second time in his 23-year tenure as superintendent, Mayo Monday night thanked well-wishers at his last Board of Education meeting before he heads into retirement — this time, he hopes, for good.
In October 2016, after the school board abruptly canned Garth Harries, Mayo stepped back into his old role as superintendent. The goal, originally, was to keep the schools running just for a couple months, until a permanent leader could be identified.
Over the last few months, Carol Birks, Mayo’s replacement, has been getting to know the community, drawing up plans with financial advisors and planning a listening tour hosted by the Phi Delta Kappa International. She officially starts the job this coming Monday.
Mayo guessed he’d be serving in the interim superintendent post for half a year tops, he said after Monday’s board meeting. But with a contentious search process for his successor, Mayo’s encore lasted much longer: nearly 17 months.
“It’s been a long, long — much longer — period than I thought,” he said.
But Mayo added that he was glad he returned.
“Thank you for having me back. Some days, I thought that I was foolish to do that, but most days, I enjoyed the work I’ve done, for 47 years,” he said. “I love this work, I will always love this work. I certainly don’t have that same energy as I did in 1992, but we managed to do it because of the great staff I have.”
Mayo’s final board meeting at Celentano School Monday night lasted three hours, as a track star was applauded, a public commenter asked for the Bible to be taught in schools, and 11 contract renewals were voted down.
Clergymen, like Revs. Boise Kimber and Steven Cousin, thanked Mayo and offered to buy him a virgin cocktail at the Knickerbocker Golf Club. Board President Darnell Goldson said the members would chip in for a round of golf with three buddies, too. Mayor Toni Harp gave Mayo a pin with New Haven’s nine squares; Ed Joyner gave him a plaque.
Rodney Williams, a Newhallville native and contractor who helped build city schools and often advocates for vocational programs, choked up during public comment. “Many times I come here and I might come at the board, because I’m trying to get more. I’m like that because of you,” he told Mayo, his one-time principal. “Thank you.”
Ed Joyner thanks Mayo.
Mayo said that seeing many familiar faces had made it so much easier to keep the district steady. “Even though there was a 3.5‑year break in between, it didn’t appear that way. I just walked right in and, boom, one meeting here and one there, pick up the pieces and start moving,” he said. “It was like going from one day to the next.”
Mayo, who’s 72, was raised by a single mom in housing projects in Richmond, Virginia. When he finished high school early, he tried to join the military, but recruiters told him he was too young. A guidance counselor encouraged him to apply for college, and he ended up at Virginia Union University, a small, historically black college. After graduation, he moved in with an aunt in Waterbury, where he started substitute teaching.
He landed his first full-time school job way back in 1967, as a science teacher at Augusta Lewis Troup School. He earned a salary of $5,000. He went on to become the school’s assistant principal, the director of elementary schools, and the head of district operations, before Mayor John Daniels picked him for superintendent in 1992.
Before he left, “Doc,” as his colleagues refer to him, oversaw a reform drive that focused on accountability, using student performance as way to grade teachers, principals and schools.
During his second go-round, Mayo tried to keep the focus on those core academics. Under Harries, administrators had devoted a lot of attention to students’ socio-emotional learning, he said. Don’t get him wrong; that’s hugely important. But Mayo said he saw his role as swinging the pendulum back to notching gains in math and reading.
“I think they had lost a little focus on the test scores. We moved into a period of social development, when we talked about chronic absences and made tremendous progress,” he said. “I said, I’ve got to shift this balance back a little bit the other way, because we’re missing out on academics. We’ve got to keep the social development piece going, no question about it: You cannot teach kids that are misbehaving, you cannot teach kids if they’re not coming to school. I saw that right away, but I think it’s now a balance that wasn’t there when I came in.”
He added that he expects test scores to go up next year.
Darnell Goldson (at right) offers Mayo a round of golf.
Faced with last-minute budget cuts from the state, Mayo also reeled in a sizable deficit last year. He ran out of time to fully close the $6.9 million gap this year, but he said he’ll be working on it until he clocks out on Friday evening.
“We’re sort of playing with things right now, like what we get if we combine a couple of schools,” he said. “We’re narrowing this thing in.”
Mayo said he plans to take a break and get some rest. He owes his wife a vacation, he said.
After that, he might take on some more consulting gigs, like the ones he had going for Booker T. Washington Academy and Highville Charter School before the district called him up.
“That was a good life,” he said. “You don’t have to come in at 8 a.m. and leave at 9 p.m.”
Mayor Toni Harp gives Mayo a tie pin of New Haven’s nine squares.
Mayo said he’ll still pick up the phone if the schools need his help again.
“Farewell,” he said. “Don’t think I’m gone, I’ll be around. I’ll be sending in questions [for public comment]. I’m a citizen now.”
Not sure how many realize what an amazing leader Doc has been. He is constantly inspiring us to focus on our jobs, to focus on children and the goals of education, while rising above any distractions and chaos. There is a reason that New Haven outperforms other CT cities in many areas. It has been a privilege to work for him and with him.