Ouellette to Leave As Superintendent By End of October

Superintendent Kathleen Ouellette, who has accepted the superintendent position for the Waterbury Public Schools system, will leave her Manchester position by Oct. 23, if not sooner if an interim replacement can be found before then.

Board of Education Chairman Chris Patticini told Patch Tuesday evening that Ouellette submitted an open-ended letter of resignation to the school board after she , and that the board then met in executive session and agreed on an end date of Oct. 28 for Ouellette.

But Pattacini said Ouellette’s final day could come sooner than that if the school system can secure an interim superintendent to replace her. By state statute, a school system cannot be without a superintendent. Ouellette’s contract requires a 90-day notice period.

“By state law, we need to have a superintendent of schools, so we have to have one appointed before she leaves,” Pattacini said.

Pattacini said that, if an interim superintendent can be selected before that date, the board would consider releasing Ouellette earlier.

“If we get an interim in place in the next three or four weeks, then we would be prepared to look at the process of her leaving earlier,” he said.

Patricia Brooks, Assistant to the superintendent, finance and management, told the Board of Education at its Monday meeting that the school system has contacted the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and has received a list of 36 retired superintendents who are interested in interim positions. Brooks said she had at least one interview for the position scheduled for next week.

“I have received some resumes and continue to receive some resumes from the list,” Brooks said.

Pattacini said that he was extremely confident the school board would have an interim superintendent in place by Ouellette’s departure date, but in the unlikely circumstances that they still had not filled the position with a qualified candidate by that date Connecticut law would allow the school board with state Board of Education approval to appoint an interim superintendent under an emergency basis who would not have to be a certified superintendent.

Ouellette has served as Manchester’s superintendent since 2004. Prior to that, she was principal of Bennett Middle School, now Bennett Academy, since 1999.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the date of Ouellette's last day with the Manchester Public Schools system as Oct. 23.