Bd. Of Ed Has Hired An Interim Superintendent

By Laurie Borst

At the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 15, board Chair Elaine McClure announced that the board has hired Thomas A. Jokubaitis to serve as interim superintendent of schools.

Mr Jokubaitis will serve in the interim position while the board searches for a new superintendent to replace Dr Evan Pitkoff. Dr Pitkoff recently resigned from Newtown to accept the position of executive director of Cooperative Educational Services in Trumbull.

Mr Jokubaitis brings a long history of administration and leadership to the district. He served as superintendent of schools in Wolcott until 1999, retiring after 17 years. Since that time, he has worked for a number of school districts offering educational consulting services and has served as interim superintendent for several school districts, including Torrington, Region 15, Region 12 and Region 9.

Before leading Wolcott schools, Mr Jokubaitis spent seven years as the director of elementary program development in Stamford, five years as principal of the Academy Elementary School in Madison, and began his career as a fourth grade teacher in Prospect.

Mrs McClure announced that he would begin working with Newtown Schools effective July 1. The board has interviewed three independent search firms that will help the district find candidates for the permanent position, and members anticipate concluding the search by January 1, 2008.

Also on Tuesday evening, Dr Pitkoff updated the board on the collaboration between Newtown Schools and Southern Connecticut State University to offer courses that will lead to supervision and leadership certification for teachers interested in moving into administration. An orientation session was held last week with SCSU professors. Forty-five teachers attended, 25 of them Newtown teachers. Since that session, ten completed applications have been received for the program, including six from Newtown teachers.

Discussion turned to the subject of replacing board member Tom Gissen who resigned last week. His resignation was filed with the town clerk on May 14. The board now has 30 days from that date to appoint a replacement. As Mr Gissen is a Democrat, his replacement must be a registered Democrat.

Mrs McClure stated that she has spoken with Earl Smith, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, who has offered to help with referrals. Anyone wishing to recommend a registered Democrat for the position should contact Mr Smith at 426-6360.

The person appointed as the new board member will serve in the position until election night in November. Usually, newly elected officials begin their positions on December 1, but in this case, the board member will begin serving on November 6, holding the position for the two years remaining in Mr Gissen’s term.