Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, shared an e-mail with the Board of Education and Newtown Public Schools district staff this week announcing his plan to retire ahead of the 2017-18 school year.The Newtown Bee on July 5, Dr Erardi wrote the decision to retire came after "an extraordinary amount of reflection on self, family, and others and I have concluded that my time has come to retire after 40 years of service to public school children."A more in depth look at Dr Erardi's time in the school district will run in a future edition of The Newtown Bee.

In the e-mail to the school board, which was shared with

Dr Erardi said on July 5 that he spoke to the school board last July about when the right time would be for him to retire. After reflecting this summer, Dr Erardi said he made "a hard decision," but said he feels it is the right decision for his family.

While his letter to the school board said his "note will be effective August 1," Dr Erardi said he will not leave the district until he feels everything is in place for the new school year. He plans to share updates with the community on a number of items pertaining to the school start time change for the 2017-18 year, he said. He will also discuss his retirement with the school board at future meetings.

"I am committed to making sure we have a positive start to the new school year," said Dr Erardi.

The superintendent also said, "There has not been a day in Newtown that I did not feel privileged or love my work."

Dr Erardi began his time in Newtown in April `2014 after the Board of Education voted unanimously to hire him as the new superintendent. He had been serving as the superintendent of Southington. Former Superintendent of Schools John Reed had been serving as interim superintendent in the district since May 2013.

In his e-mail to the school board, Dr Erardi said he had previously discussed with the board waiting to retire until "it felt like work and until I woke up believing that I should move on to the next chapter of my life."

The close of the 2016-17 school year felt different, he wrote in the letter.

"June 2017 ended a year of great successes and celebrations for the district. However, for the first time in my career, I found the pace challenging with significant conflicting thoughts about family time that will never be recaptured due to work," he wrote.

While serving as superintendent in Newtown, Dr Erardi also taught at Center Connecticut State University, and when speaking with his graduate students, he said he frequently shares advice to make time for family. Over the course of his career in public education, Dr Erardi said, making time for his family proved difficult. There were times when his children, Joe and Chelsea, were in middle school that he would not see them awake for a period of time. The advice he was sharing with his graduate students, Dr Erardi explained, began to resonate this year. This past October, Dr Erardi said he became a grandfather, yet he found it hard to make time to see his grandson. Then his wife, Sue, retired a few weeks ago.

Dr Erardi - who will turn 62 in August- said he began thinking about the balance between Newtown, which he said he never wanted to leave, and health. He said it is important for him to be able to spend time with a dearly loved family member who is in a "courageous health battle."

Dr Erardi closed his e-mail to the school board with, "Please understand that every day I served as your school leader I felt privileged to do so as we concurrently worked to make a difference one student at a time."

In response to Dr Erardi's announcement, Board of Education Chair Keith Alexander said on July 5, "The Board of Education is extremely appreciative of the time and dedication Dr Erardi has given to our town and school system. His leadership has been steadfast and supportive in always working to move us forward. We wish him well in his retirement and the board will immediately begin work on the next steps to keep our district moving along the path that Dr Erardi has so capably been leading us."

Mr Alexander said the school board scheduled a special meeting for Thursday, July 6, to discuss Dr Erardi's retirement in an executive session.