Corda Resigns | | YourCT.comYourCT.com

Steward

Suddenly, it’s a sunny day!

Anonymous

It will still be cloudy if the current BOE gets to pick the replacement.

anonymous

I’d like to thank the most recently elected Board members for doing what I elected them to do. After only two years, they have driven out Corda, which previous boards were unable or unwilling to do.

Anonymous

How was this statement released? Was it a press release to all of the media? I am seeing it only here.

Assuming that the report is true, Norwalk needs a qualified — emphasis on qualified — interim superintendent. They need a true educational leader, even for the interim job, not a mere manager. It’s time to give the people someone who can make this district proud again.

Secondhand Rose

If you go to The Hour’s website, it’s right at the top of the page as breaking news. I saw it there at 6:30pm tonight.

Anonymous

Do you need a subscription? I don’t see it. Can you give us a link?

justMe

Please as I have been looking for it for over 2 1/2 hrs!

anon

I bet the new one will be lynne moore

Anonymous

My bet is Tony.

Old Timer

I just went to the HOUR’s website and the top story is the BOE budget story.
“Central Office takes budget hit; NHS pool may be saved ”
Nothing in it about corda resigning

Educator

Television – channel 12.

Anonymous

Here it is:

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/norwalkadvocate/ci_12652267?nclick_check=1

what a mess

wouldnt be wise to place any bets, too much at stake, took too long to get to this crossroads. so lets get this straight, with major cuts being made and the students suffering our chief, or carpetbagger, depending on which side of the hill you look from, makes norwalk pay his salary and fringe benefits and another pension while he takes an easier job and abandons the sinking ship. now we have to hire someone willing to take on this mess and pay corda. true colors.

Good scoop

CORDA RESIGNS

What a beautiful headline.

Now we have a reason to party!

Lucy

I just checked my school email and there was a letter from Sal saying he is resigning, effective September 15th. He will join the education dept. at Southern as a professor. It’s like Theater of the Absurd!

Lifelong Teacher

At the risk of unleashing a torrent of protest, let me say that Sal did a lot of good early in his tenure with NPS. The last few years have been a mess for a number of reasons, a couple of them are named Opdahl and Lang.

What is important now, for the sake of our children and our future as a district, is that we move forward in a positive direction.

The selection of the next superintendent is absolutely critical. The citizens of Norwalk, acting through their elected board of education, members, need to look very closely at the track record of each candidate. If there is abuse and a trail of wounded and casualties, we must STAY AWAY from that person.

NRWK Teacher

Could not agree more with Lifelong in terms of a past trail of issues. To that end, it need not be Lynne Moore. I would bet Tony moves into the top spot and Bob McCain slides into Tony’s spot. We need to go out of town on this one in my humble opinion. Someone who does not know the players in town and then can make new and fresh assessments on them. Specifically some of the principals and their actions (whether they be rude and unprofessional, do nothing, sleeping with a teacher in their office only to be caught by his wife or worse L.M.) Hopefully this won’t turn into a be careful what you wish for because you might get it type of situation either.

Old Timer

The Advocate has the story. Corda has accepted a teaching job at Southern Conn State University. My bet is a “nationwide search” for the next superintendent will launch immediately and they will hire another carpet bagger, already retired from some other school system.
This will be an opportunity to decide what we need in a superintendent and pick from candidates that match our requirements. Who knows, we might even find somebody who thinks the district needs financial accountability.

Lucy

Number 17. Sounds like you’ve got your finger on the pulse of what’s happening behind closed doors. So do you guys think this BOE would really hire Lynne Moore?

Anonymous

#16 – excuse me – who brought Opdahl and Lang in?

Anonymous

Thanks Jack & Glenn. It’s a reasonable certainty you 2 will be re-elected. He’s just left this school system in a shambles, made a series of wrong-headed personnel decisions which are going to adversely affect employees and kids – AND we’re stuck with him until mid-September. But at least it’s a step in the right direction.
The Board needs to hire a competent interim Superintendent so that the search can be conducted in a professional manner. Dare we hope they’ve learned enough now not to screw around?

Anonymous

I have been thinking about some administrative courses he can teach at Southern:

1. Arrogance and Aloofness
2. How to Hire Executive Staff, Regardless of their Records
3. Treating City Officials With Complete Disdain
4. Treating Some Board of Education Personnel With Disdain
5. How To Forget That the Board of Education Is Supposed To Establish Policies
6. How To Demand — And Get — Ridiculously Greedy Salary And Benefits
7. How To Avoid Communicating With Teachers And With Many Others Who Work With the Students
8. How To Disregard Most Parents
9. How To Allow Some Administrators To Do Whatever They Want
10. How To Play Golf And Call It Doing Business
11. How To Get the Board To Set You Up For Your Next Career By Having Them Pay For Numerous Conferences

Can people think of others? Sal Corda will not be missed, that is, unless the board makes another crazy decision.

Maverick

Well now, the triumverate(Opdahl, Lang, Corda)that tore the educational system asunder is now history. Let history be the teacher here, so that many of these same mistakes will not happen again. However, if anybody thinks that some knight in shining armor is galloping in to save this mess, he is sadly mistaken. This BOE is now “in control” a la Alexander Haig (remember him???) Don’t expect many smart moves while the lame duck exhausts his vacation days. Wonder if he will fly in for convocation day….he may be too busy preparing his lectures on educational leadership.

Anonymous

In the best interest of the students of the Norwalk Public Schools, the board of education ought to give Dr. Corda 3 weeks to clear our and finish anything he was doing (not a joke), and then they should have him leave. His staying won’t do anyone any good. It’s too much like a couple who file for divorce, but who continue living and sleeping together.

anonymous

Not a reason to celebrate. Norwalk continually makes bad choices. This time TEACHERS need to have a major say in selecting the superintendent. There’s a lot of fluff out there that is taken at face value and then WHOOPS! We spend too much money with a great waste of time and detriment to undo the choices made. Teachers know what works in the system… trust them. They want vision, they want professional, they want accountability at all levels. They’ll be the first to tell you that John Keogh is an asset as is the new Language Arts specialist, who is dynamic and kid-centered.

Townie

#21 anonymous ….sorry but I don’t think either Jack or Glenn had any significant impact with Corda’s resignation. Neither one brought much to the table when they came to the BOE. Both have been excellent at being critical and condensending, but neither one have shown any management or leadership qualities. Come to think of it, this would best describe the other BOE members as well.

ANONYMOUS

Lynne Moore ? What a complete disregard for the children of Norwalk, You are better off, with NO SUPERINTENDENT

Anne Sullivan

Get Hugh McKiernan in there ASAP as acting superintendent.

anon

Get all of these sacks of crap out of here. Also leave out some of the reverse racists who are only gonna want a minority. Lets try to hire the best not only because of the color of someones skin.

Anonymous

#28: I think Tony would have a fit. Norwalk needs a REAL superintendent there as an interim. McKiernan has never had a job like that. Papallo is getting up in years, but maybe someone like Mike Nast could do it. There must be other retirees around who still have their stuff together.

Townie

Please no Papallo. A nice guy but when he was the Super in Stamford he was responsible for promoting Fay Ruotolo and Dan Cook to key positions in his administration. Need I say anything more? Anyone who knows anything about the two, or has had the pleasure of working with these two, knows how limited they are and how little they bring to the table.

Morris is fleecing us!

Sorry Townie No.26, But Jack and Glen were the only two who tried the other night to rid this town of Bruce Morris. THAT is leading to me! When will the other 7 members get it ?
BRUCE MORRIS IS FLEECING US!

anonymous

Better not let Mosby and Rivas have any say in hiring a new superintendent. Norwalk needs knowledgeable people to help select someone qualified and willing to deal with principals that show no regard for the students, parents and staff in their school community. The principals have a huge role in attracting and keeping good families and staff members in our school system, but when we have principals that disregard their students, staff and parents, we’re left with a school system in decline! An intelligent board would find a superintendent that sets expectations for principals to welcome and value their families and staff in order to create a high-quality school climate (you can ask the folks at Nathan Hale about the positive changes in the last 4 years)

just another paraent

Hugh McKiernan is an intelligent and honorable man who left the Corda administration out of his deep-seated convictions. What a joy it would be for a gentleman of his credentials and moral standards to lead us on an interim basis.

Lifelong Teacher

#34: If that’s why McKiernan left, what has he been doing back acting as an interim vice principal at Naramake since Bob Henry left in January?

Anonymous

If he left because he didn’t want to compromise his honor, why did he return to do a temporary stint at one of the schools? I don’t question his integrity; all I am saying is that he didn’t leave because of issues of integrity.

Ding Dong

Ding Dong the witch is gone…..
Am I the only one that cant get that tune outta their heads?

Moving Forward

The process in selecting a new superintendent must set a precedent for transparency accountabilty and proggression. Dr Jane Friedlander has been tasked to form a parental advisory committe, this has to be put on the front burner immediately. Any parents that would like to be involved in this new advisory committe that will have valuable input on all decessions by the BOE and have the time and commitment and passion, nows the time to step up to the plate. All interested parents are strongly encouraged to immediatley contact Dr. Jane Friedlander Director of Pupil services at

friedlanderj@norwalkps.org

and voluteer to make a difference in a kids life by making our schools actually teach our kids something besides rebellion.
Here also is where Bruce Mellon will be stepping in, right Bruce, to organize the teachers to from their own advisory committee. With teachers and parents invited and involved great things can happen with great people. To the entire BOE, lets get these committees up and online, pronto, you guys and gals need help, its here, use it.

Townie

#37 – Ding Dong. The only witch that most of us hope will be gone is in the Human Resource Dept and she handles non-certifified personnel. Her boss isn’t much better.

Morris is Fleecing us!

Townie, once again Glen I. brought the motion to combine the certified & non-certified position into one position. Faye hemmed & hoared that that would be too much work for one person. Suggestion – how about you help with the work load Faye? God forbid you work Faye.

Anonymous

#40: Good point. So many people are being asked to make sacrifices, whether by giving up money or by doing more work. I agree that it is too much work for one person, and so Fay will have to pick up work she has been able to delegate until now.

anonymous

Two decades of self centered leadership promoted by the BOE and supported by �well-meaning� parent leaders have left most Norwalk students behind. Mr. Corda�s resignation may be welcomed, but does nothing to change the deeply rooted sources causing much of Norwalk�s problems. This is not to diminish the achievements of individual teachers and students of which there are many, but to recognize that those achievements need to be leveraged across the board. In the next two decades, maybe we will see the focus return to education. If having the right leadership lets this happen, then Norwalk has to choose very carefully this time.

anon

Jane Friedlander is another useless idiot that has been carrying the water for Corda and running the corrupt special services. Read the papers and see how they were paying for services that verent provided. she should be run out of town along with her six 100,000 plus employees that do not work at central office and collect big salaries while denying kids essential services and intimidating poor minority parents

Open Mike

All you teachers and staff, speak now, be heard you have free pass. Slam who needs a wake up call or kick in the but, who is doing good, I know Natal at Roton is a shining star lets hear the stories lets see who is doing right and what we are doing wrong. Teachers the leash has been severed, you have freedom of speech without repression. tell us who has to go, what training and support you need, lets see some spirit here people. We have an opportunity to really make a difference, Chop chop everyone. this is your chance, no personal attacks or biased comments, lets make it better, hell we are the adults are we not?

Retired Teacher

Now that the NYcarpetbagger is finally out of here, we have to stop the in fighting, especially the crew from NH who are still crying that their guy did not get the Assistant Super position. It is time for us to unite, so that we can begin to rebuild what Corda and company have destroyed during the past 8 years.

I would hope that the district takes its time to find the next super. This time they cannot hire some stupid team to find a candidate. When this team was looking for a principal for NHS three years ago, they totally disregarded what the staff had said in terms of qualifications. One in specific was that the individual NOT be a retiree from NY. So much for what we wanted….

Not all board members worked to rid Norwalk of this arrogrant fool. There were always two or three that would support Corda. Several of the women, however, were able to get under his skin by not going along with his agenda or questioning his motives. Bravo to them.

We have a great deal of work ahead of us because Corda has left the district in shambles. We need to unite to rebuild our image, to focus on education and the students, and to bring back the respect due to all the teachers and support staff.

It’s a new day and all is possible.

Anonymous

Retired Teacher, it was lunacy not to give the NHMS principal the Assistant Superintendent job, but it is a lunatic board of education. I won’t be surprised to see them elevate the person who did get the job. I challenge anyone to tell me that he is qualified to be interim superintendent or even assistant superintendent, but since when do qualifications matter?

anonymous

As far as McKiernan goes, he’s a nice guy but he lacks the intestinal fortitude to do the job well. He never supported teachers in their quest to get rid of the administrative bullies at school building sites.

Anonymous

#47: And I might ask what Mr. Daddona (when he was director of secondary schools) did to rein in Dr. Moore.

Answer: nothing.

Anonymous

#37 – And here I thought it was “Ding, dong the witch is dead, which old witch, the Wicked Witch” all these years.

loving it

#39
At least she was there and did her job unlike the political man who still has his Mr. Morris. Rosa, you go study the impact of all that as done on Thursday…that should be fun since the damage has been done!