Schools

Title Hired to 3-Year Contract as Supt. of Schools

Salary Not Disclosed; Info Expected Thursday, Says BOE Chairman

David G. Title, the superintendent of schools in Bloomfield, was hired to a three-year contract as Fairfield's superintendent of schools on an 8-1 vote tonight by the Board of Education.

The school board's contract with Title runs from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013.

But Title's salary, and overall compensation, was not disclosed by the school board tonight. Sue Brand, the board's chairman, said tonight that she hadn't signed the contract with Title but expected to on Thursday. Brand said she expected Title's salary and compensation package to be publicly available on Thursday.

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Brand said she was advised by an attorney at the state Freedom of Information Commission in Hartford that the school board's contract with Title does not become a public document until it's signed, and she therefore did not have to disclose Title's salary tonight.

"It only becomes public when it's signed, as soon as the ink is dry. I'm anticipating it will be signed tomorrow," Brand said.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But Title's salary came up indirectly during the Board of Education's 30-minute meeting in Roger Ludlowe Middle School's auditorium because Sue Dow, a school board member, voted against hiring Title because of his salary and additional compensation.

"Tonight, I am going to vote 'No,' " Dow said before the vote. "It has nothing to do with Dr. Title and his abilities. It has to do with the compensation package."

Dow said she couldn't support the salary being paid to Title when teachers and school administrators in bargaining units accepted 0 percent raises this year.

First Selectman Ken Flatto sent an e-mail to Brand earlier today objecting to information he had heard that Title's salary would be higher than the base salary of $234,861 being paid to Supt. of Schools Ann Clark, who is retiring June 30.

Title received rave reviews from Bloomfield school board members in phone interviews conducted by Fairfield Patch last week, and Fairfield's school board members praised him tonight during an informal meet-and-greet before the official school board meeting at 8 p.m.

"I was impressed by how he handles budgets, I believe he's going to be extremely dynamic and creative," school board member John Mitola said. "I was impressed by his mastery of curriculum. When we met staff [in Bloomfield's school district], including teachers, they were genuinely upset he was leaving, to the point some teachers had tears in their eyes. That's how much respect they had for him."

Mitola said Fairfield's school system doesn't have the challenges that Bloomfield's school district had when Title was hired there eight years ago and that Title therefore could concentrate on the curriculum in Fairfield's schools.

"One of the reasons why he'll be so good in Fairfield is he's so good at curriculum, and he'll be able to focus on curriculum because Fairfield doesn't have the same problems as Bloomfield," Mitola said.

Mitola noted that two magnet schools in Bloomfield - a high school and a preschool - opened during Title's tenure and that creating a magnet school in Fairfield to address McKinley School's racial imbalance was a possibility.

Gabrielle Guise, one of only about a dozen people at tonight's meeting who was not a town or school board official, said she spoke with Title and that he was "very impressive."

"He certainly comes to Fairfield with a great resume, and I hope he will do great things for our kids," Guise, who has a child at Dwight School and two children at Tomlinson Middle School, said before Title was hired.

Lisa Havey, the PTA Council's Board of Education representative, said Title was personable, approachable, enthusiastic and motivated. "He's ready to make those hard decisions that need to be made - mostly we're talking about budget and redistricting - gather as much information as possible and make a sound decision," she said.

The Board of Education may have to do a redistricting to alleviate overcrowding in the middle schools; it may not be enough to simply change the "feeder pattern" that determines where children who graduate from elementary school attend middle school, Mitola said.

The Board of Education was in a closed-door meeting for only 18 minutes before Brand walked out to invite Title into the meeting. About two minutes later, the meeting was opened to the public, and the school board voted to hire Title a few minutes after that.

"I'm very excited to have such a visionary join the district," Board of Education Vice Chairman Pam Iacono said after the vote, adding that Title is a proven leader who will build upon Clark's success.

School board member Tim Kery thanked Clark for buiding a good foundation in Fairfield's school district.

Asked if he wanted to offer comments after the vote, Title said he was "extremely proud to become the superintendent of Fairfield" and that he knew the job would be challenging, but a challenge he and the board could meet together.


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