Board of Education Expected to Appoint Interim Superintendent Tuesday

A special meeting of the Board of Education has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 11, where Chairman Chris Pattacini said the board expects to name an interim , who is leaving to accept the superintendent position for the Waterbury Public Schools.

Pattacini said a suitable interim replacement for Ouellette, who has served as superintendent since 2004, has been selected, although he declined to name the candidate Friday afternoon.

“There’s a candidate identified and the contract is being finalized,” he told Patch.

Patricia Brooks, Assistant to the superintendent, finance and management, told the Board of Education at it Sept. 12 meeting that the school system had contacted the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and had received a list of 36 retired superintendents who indicted they would be interested in interim positions.

Ouellette’s last scheduled day with Manchester is Oct. 28, but Pattacini said the school board would likely allow Ouellette to leave a few days after the interim candidate was in place.

“The plan would be as soon as we get this individual onboard, there would be a few days of turnover,” he said.

From there, Pattacini said, the school board would establish a search committee and retain a consultant to find a new long-term superintendent.

“This will get the full-time search underway,” Pattacini said. “We’ll be able to turn our focus now to getting a consultant and getting the full-time search underway.”

A second item on the agenda of Tuesday’s special meeting, titled “Payment of Superintendent’s carry over vacation time,” would determine how many existing vacation days Ouellette will be compensated for at the end of her contract.

Pattacini said Ouellette had carried vacation days over from the previous school year and would be paid for any vacation time she has accrued this school year, but that she would not be paid for any remaining sick days when she leaves the district. Ouellette currently earns a $155,366 annual salary.