NORWICH – Middle School Principal Lisa Schuchman officially became a tenured administrator at 9:28 p.m. Tuesday night. The Norwich City School Board of Education returned after a two-and-a-half-hour executive session to pass the motion by a 4-3 vote.
Casting votes in favor of Schuchman’s tenure were board president Bob Patterson, board members Kathy Coates, Joe Stagliano and the board’s newest addition, Perry Owen. Tim Brown, Sally Chirlin and Priscilla Johnson were all in opposition.
The board’s decision may come as a surprise to some. It follows a March ruling by the board to extend Schuchman’s probationary status until July of 2009. Nor did it appear on the agenda for last night’s meeting.
At approximately 7 p.m. the motion was made and carried to enter executive session to review the exit interview information of 29 former staff members, the personnel records of two particular staff members and contract negotiations. “We may return to take action,” Patterson told the crowd as the board prepared to leave the room. There was no indication at the time what that action would be.
When the board returned around 9:30 p.m., they voted on two motions in quick succession. The first was the approval of a contract for Dr. Robert Cleveland as interim principal at the high school. The second was Schuchman’s tenure. The board returned to executive session immediately following these actions and were therefore unavailable for comment.
Middle School music teacher Julie Solomon, who will be leaving the district for a position at Oxford Academy, was visibly upset by the news. Solomon was one of the 19 teachers and staff members who filed complaints against the principal in February. Earlier in the evening, she took the opportunity to make one final plea to the board in what would be her last meeting as an employee of the district.
“I’d like to ask you as a board to open those lines of communication,” said Solomon as she expressed her view that many of the problems faced by the district in the past year could have been avoided by better communication between staff and administration.
