Lee names interim superintendent

LEE – A veteran administrator with local ties will likely be taking the reins as the new leader of Lee Public Schools.

The Lee-Tyringham Superintendency Union unanimously voted to offer John “Jack” Rizzo, a West Springfield native who has 32 years of educational experience throughout the United States, a two-year contract as interim superintendent.

“I love The Berkshires,” he said, specifically noting Tanglewood and the skiing opportunities. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little puppy.”

Dr. Rizzo is currently the head of school at St. Theresa School, a private Catholic school in Honolulu, Hawaii. His previous experience includes time as superintendent of the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union in Vermont and a principal in Ludlow and West Springfield in Massachusetts.

“It’s time to come home,” Dr. Rizzo said, adding he has both a nine-month-old granddaughter and a father in his mid-80s nearby. “I want to retire at a Massachusetts public school.”

This change in leadership comes as current Superintendent Jason P. McCandless has accepted the superintendency in Pittsfield, effective July 1.

The choice to offer Dr. Rizzo the position came on May 14, following a May 13 interview conducted by the Lee and Tyringham school committees at the district office. Two district teachers, R. Mark Hungate and Erin M. White, also participated in the interview process.

The interview, led by Lee School Committee Chairwoman Susan Harding, gave a glimpse into Dr. Rizzo’s strengths and weaknesses in helping Lee move forward.

He expressed a philosophy similar to that of Dr. McCandless, simply putting “kids first” in both the instructional and financial processes of a school district.

“Our schools exist for the education of our children,” Dr. Rizzo said. “I have lived by that for 26 years of running schools.”

He also indicated he had experience in doing community outreach when dealing with a possible merger, which has been mentioned as a possibility between the Lee and Lenox school systems.

“We told the truth,” he said of the process, saying effective mergers offer both enhanced learning opportunities and consolidated costs.

He also said it could be a tough road should the schools decide to pursue that option.

“It does come with a little bit of pain and anxiety,” he said, referring to making tough decisions such as laying off teachers.

Members of the school committees seemed very receptive to this, especially Lee’s Thomas A. Consolati.

“His comments about Lenox were entirely appropriate,” Dr. Consolati said during the deliberation process. “I thought he could help with community discussions.”

One area Dr. Rizzo seemed to have extensive knowledge of was in teacher evaluations, given his 19 years of experience as a principal.

“When principals are in the classroom, performance goes up,” he said, adding he would be willing to work closely with the district’s administrators to train them in doing walk-throughs.

Other strengths noted by committee and faculty members included Dr. Rizzo’s demonstrated communications skills with faculty, students and parents and his enthusiastic support of the arts.

Concerns

On the other hand, some concerns were raised about his lack of knowledge in certain areas, including negotiations and aligning with the Common Core standards.

“His curriculum work was not robust, but he owned that,” Lee School Committee Vice Chair Robert E. Lohbauer said. “It’s something we can insist he make himself better at.”

“He has the stuff you can’t teach and has the ability to learn the stuff you can,” Chairwoman Harding later added.

Their comments echoed what the other school committee members shared as their overall impressions of Dr. Rizzo, who was the only candidate brought forward to interview for the interim superintendent position.

“This guy is a miracle,” said Tyringham School Committee Member Ed Nardi. “We’re very fortunate people.”

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on May 16, 2013. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry