Brewster School Chief to Leave Next Year
A contentious school year in Brewster came to an end last week when school chief Dr. Valerie Henning-Piedmonte announced her decision to leave the district at the conclusion of next school year.
The Brewster Board of Education accepted Henning-Piedmonte’s resignation effective July 31, 2019. The impending change in leadership comes after a torrent of criticism and controversy hit the district over the past several months, with Henning-Piedmonte facing the brunt of the anger and unrest from parents and other concerned community members.
Henning-Piedmonte notified school board members of her future prior to Tuesday evening’s meeting, which was the last meeting of this school year.
“I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as Superintendent of Schools,” Henning wrote. “This letter serves as my notice to you that I am resigning from my position as Superintendent of Schools.”
Outgoing board president Dr. Stephen Jambor said while her resignation caught him by surprise, he understood how Henning-Piedmonte was brought emotionally to that decision.
Jambor expressed disappointment that the board was unable to get a contract extension in place by the last meeting before a new board took over, which seemingly was a factor in Henning-Piedmonte resigning.
When Jambor got the resignation letter, his first thought was “dang, there’s got to be a way we can change this.” When the two spoke soon after, Jambor said the tone in her voice indicated she was ready to move on.
With the board facing criticism over an apparent lack of transparency, Jambor thinks the board didn’t want to make a decision over her contract in the “11th hour.”
“They’re a little gun shy now,” Jambor said of the board. “They’re not going to push the point, they’re going to be more careful.”
Henning-Piedmonte, who has been in education for 25 years, came to the district during the 2013-2014 year as assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment and was promoted two years later to deputy superintendent. In Aug. 2016, she was promoted to superintendent, replacing Timothy Conway.
The opposition against Henning- Piedmonte swelled as budget season ramped up when it was discovered that Henning-Piedmonte was paid $4,923 for five unused vacation days, even though the move was never approved during the public portion of a meeting. As the Brewster district proposed about a dozen staff position cuts, the board retroactively approved the payment to Henning- Piedmonte following the revelations, leading to further discord between the community and district leadership.
A day later, Henning-Piedmonte wrote to the community she was going to give back the vacation pay and her and other administrators were going to freeze their salaries and contribute more to their health insurance.
Nevertheless, the first proposed budget failed by less than 200 votes on May 15, even though it remained under the New York State tax cap. The second budget offered was easily approved on June 19.
“This is a very strong woman who we had watched withstand a lot of challenges,” Jambor said. “She stood up better than I could have. Anybody else in her shoes would have probably done the same thing.”
Despite the past few months being mired in combativeness between the district office and the community, Henning-Piedmonte can point to several accomplishments during her time with the district.
The district implemented a strategic coherence plan, which is a 21st century blueprint for the school system, adopted the Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop in grades K-5 as the ELA curriculum and the Project Lead the Way STEM curriculum, and implemented one-on-one chromebooks.
She also oversaw the completion of a $38.9 million construction project and helped establish the Brewster Community Learning Center to offer low cost learning opportunities to residents and non- residents.
Henning-Piedmonte’s announcement left social media in Brewster circles abuzz last week.
One oft-critic of the district’s leadership, Robert Cullen, said Henning-Piedmonte’s tenure in Brewster was “disappointing and costly to the district.”
“From the new logo fiasco to her secretly approved vacation day payout her tenure left a lot to be desired,” Cullen, a former Southeast councilman, said. “Hopefully the board will find a new superintendent of schools that parents and teachers can respect.”
Incoming school board member, Eric Grutzner, who was the top vote getter this past May, said he looked forward to helping select the new school chief. Any new superintendent would need to be willing to work with the board and schoolstaff within the district to solve some of the concerns in the community, he said.
“I’m hoping that we’re just going to keep moving the district forward,” Grutzner said. “and really try to find a candidate to do a good job of reflecting the district and its needs and at the same time always looking out for the best interest of every student.”
Jambor, whose last board meeting was last week, said he thinks the new board should conduct a wide-open, national search, even though the last two school leaders were in-house candidates. He added the process must be as transparent as possible.
“I would love for us to stay on a winning path,” Jambor said.
