6/17/14 West Holmes resignations due to changes in vision, direction
By Nick Sabo
June 17, 2014
445
SUMMARY: Superintendent, curriculum and federal programs director, cafeteria supervisor resign together. The decisions are due to changes in vision of the district, Superintendent Kris Perone said.
Top administrative officials in the West Holmes School District tendered their resignations Monday, citing changes in vision for the district.
Superintendent Kris Perone, curriculum and federal programs director Lori Robson and cafeteria supervisor Dixie Gray submitted their resignations at the Monday June 16 meeting of the West Holmes school board. The three women, who have each served the district for decades, attributed their decision to a change in focus in vision within the district that they feel they cannot align with.
In this new environment, I feel I cannot be the contributor to the teachers and students that I need to be, Perone said.
The resignations are effective at the end of Gray, Perone and Robsons 2013-2014 service contracts. Perone and Robsons contracts are up at the end of July, and Grays contract is up at the end of June.
Gray, Perone and Robson said it was a decision they made together. Gray, who has 32 years in the public school system, 28 of which were spent at West Holmes, will resign for purposes of retirement. Perone is awaiting a board decision for a position with the Tri-County Educational Service Center. Robson said she tendered her resignation on a leap of faith of faith that something will come up.
Perone declined to discuss the exact nature of the changes in the district. However, Perone said she still believes strongly in the abilities of districts educators and staff.
We want West Holmes to succeed. There sometimes comes a time to go, and this is one of those times, Perone said. West Holmes deserves to have the people in place that can be the true contributor to that new vision.
Perone said her decision was a very difficult one, a sentiment shared by Gray and Robson.
The resignations were discussed in an executive session prior to Monday nights school board meeting and in a second executive session following the meeting.
Speaking Tuesday June 17, boardmember Brad Welsh said the choice to resign was Perones own. (Speaking with The Bargain Hunter, Gray and Robson also stated that the choice to resign was their own). Welsh said Perone and Robson have left behind a commendable legacy, and he expects a smooth transition as a new administrator comes aboard.
The improvement weve seen in the past couple of years is a testament to their work in the district, Welsh said. (The board) has a good plan of action moving forward.
Welsh said the board will move quickly to find a new superintendent. Once a new superintendent is named, the search for a new curriculum coordinator and will begin.
Perone is a West Holmes graduate. She returned to the district as a teacher in 1990, teaching middle school math and English. In 2001, Perone served as assistant superintendent, and was appointed superintendent in 2008.
Robson has 19 years with West Holmes. Robson taught at Clark and Millersburg elementary schools, was assistant principal, then principal, at the middle school, and became curriculum and federal programs director in 2009.
Gray started at West Holmes as a secretary at Clark and cooked at the high school for seven years. She has been cafeteria supervisor for nine years.
