Superintendent Marks' Contract Extended, But Evaluation Not Yet Public

Superintendent of Schools Susan F. Marks will be on the job until at least 2014 after a one-year extension to her contract was approved Tuesday by the Norwalk Board of Education.

The vote was 7-1, with board member Migdalia Rivas against, and Steven Colarossi abstaining.

Marks’ salary remains at $200,000 plus a $30,000 annuity annually.

Among her supporters was Board of Education Chairmann Jack Chiaramonte, who said Marks had made an auspicious start despite the economic environment.

“I think she’s done a wonderful job her first year being here,” he said. Marks has gotten to know the community and is now in a position to bring the district into the 21st Century, he said.

Chiaramonte said she came into a district that in some cases is so behind the times that some matters—staff attendance, for example—were reported on scraps of paper rather than put into a computer system.

But Migdalia Rivas said she was against extending Marks’ contract unless written evaluations were forthcoming.

Chiaramonte said such written documentation was awaiting a response from Marks that could be included. But Rivas was not alone in noting the absence of written material.

Bruce Mellion, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, said this was not the time to give Marks an extension.

Speaking at the public comments portion of the meeting, he criticized her performance throughout the year, saying that she had missed targets that she was supposed to complete such as staff evaluations. Furthermore, he said, since the board hadn’t released any evaluation, it was in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.

He called the board’s action, “highly inappropriate, if not illegal.”

Meanwhile, the board also extended to 2014 the employment of Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Anthony Daddona, who will receive$192,151, including a $5,000 annuity. He will, however, be taking 7.5 furlough days to make up for an increase, Chiaramonte said.

Colarossi said he was abstaining from the extensions, but not because of any objections to either Marks or Daddona, whom he praised for their long hours and devotion to students.

“Connecticut has this crazy practice,” he said referring to the customary contract extensions for such personnel. I need to abstain from it. I don’t think it’s a very good practice.”