Dive Brief:
- Connecticut plans to appoint a CEO to take over the faltering school system in Winchester, where a probe recently found irregular spending in its special education program and food services.
- The CEO will be given complete control over the district's management and will be tasked with fixing the district's broken systems within two or, at most, four years.
- The CEO will be appointed by the start of August.
Dive Insight:
Typically, when states have intervened as aggressively as Connecticut is in Winchester, appointing a special leader to enact big changes, the move has been largely based on academic failings alongside systemic dysfunction. Typically, the decision faced strong opposition from local parent organizations and teacher unions. Similar moves in both Newark, NJ, and New Orleans, faced problems outside of academics that prompted the state to step in, but the focus in both cases was an academic overhaul.
Winchester is a little different. While the district is one of the state's lowest-performing and has been for years, in this case the state is crediting messy finances for its move, and parents and the school board have been largely receptive. A previous financial officer stole $2 million from the district and it has struggled to find the money to run its schools.
"I would like to think I'm a totally capable person and could fix these problems, but I look at it realistically," Susan Hoffnagle, chair of Winchester board of education, told the Hartford Courant. "We spent years and hours and hours every week and what did we accomplish? Nothing. More power to the state if they can pull it off."
The fix will also have a defined lifespan, with the CEO staying between two and four years, depending on whether the state opts to extend the two-year program. The state will also cover the costs of the intervention, which could be $500,000 in the first year.