Region 7 says: 'No thank you' to shared superintendent

REGION 7 — The Region 7 Board of Education has declined an offer from the New Hartford Board of Education proposing that the two school districts share a superintendent.

Region 7’s current Superintendent of Schools, Clinton Montgomery, announced last month that he will retire from his post at the end of this July.

Region 7 Board of Education Chairman Molly Sexton-Read said while board members appreciated the offer, the district is best served by a full-time superintendent who would not have shared loyalties or possible conflicts of interest with a second school board

“There’s never been a consensus that we could do with a part-time superintendent,� Sexton-Read said during the board’s June 9 regular meeting.

She added that the offer also comes at a time when the district is already well on its way toward selecting a new superintendent.

Region 7 school board members held a special meeting Tuesday, June 15, to select its semi-finalist candidates.

“At this moment in time, we will say thank you but no thank you,� Sexton-Read said to New Hartford Board of Education Chairman Susan Lundin, who was among those sitting in the audience during last week’s meeting.

Region 7 school board member and New Hartford resident Rob Jerram agreed.

“I just don’t think it would be a good move right now,� Jerram said.

As its top administrator, Montgomery manages the district’s seventh through 12th grade system, which includes Northwestern Regional Middle and Northwestern Regional High Schools. The district serves the students of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk.

New Hartford Superintendent of Schools Phillip B. O’Reilly oversees the town’s kindergarten through sixth grade school system.