Ouellette Inks Deal with Waterbury

told Patch Tuesday that she has reached agreement with the Waterbury Board of Education on a three-year contract and that she was submitting her letter of resignation to the Manchester school board.

Ouellette said she planned to submit her letter of resignation to Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini in a certified letter, which per her contract required a 90-day notification period, but that the Manchester school board could decide to release her from that contract early.

“I think it might be negotiated with them,” Ouellette said of her end date as Manchester’s superintendent.  “But that’s up to them, the board.”

Pattacini said Tuesday that he had not received Ouellette’s letter yet, but when he did it would have to be formally accepted in a vote by the board, which would then begin the process of filling the position in anticipation of Ouellette’s departure. Pattacini has previously stated that the school board would seek to find an interim replacement for Ouellette as it searched for a new permanent superintendent, which could take as long as six months.

“That will start the process that the board will undertake to fill the position, both in terms of an interim replacement and a new superintendent,” he said.

Ouellette said that the Waterbury school board voted 7-3 to accept the terms of her new contract, and that it was effectively the tentative agreement that the Hartford Courant reported on last week.

Under the deal, Ouellette would earn an $185,000 annual salary and receive a $20,000 annuity payment each year from the Waterbury school system, according to the Courant; she would also be eligible to earn a $5,000 bonus in the second and third years of the deal.

Ouellette, who has served as Manchester’s superintendent since 2004, currently earns a $155,366 annual salary and receives a $14,000 annual annuity payment from the Manchester school system. Prior to that, she was principal of Bennett Middle School, now Bennett Academy, since 1999.

“I’m very excited about the new challenges that lie ahead, but I do leave with some mixed emotions in Manchester,” Ouellette said. “They gave me tremendous opportunities in my career, and I will certainly miss many, many people here.”