Melinda Tuhus File Photo
As the district scrambles to find her replacement, Principal Rose Coggins has agreed to postpone retirement from Wilbur Cross High School.
The district has been searching for a new principal since Dec. 14, when school officials announced Coggins and Hillhouse Principal Lonnie Garris would retire at the end of the year after long careers. Those two retirements left vacancies at the city’s two biggest high schools — vacancies that proved hard to fill as New Haven’s ambitious systemwide reform drive kicks into gear.
The Board of Education two weeks ago hired basketball coach Kermit Carolina to take charge of Hillhouse.
As of Monday, no such replacement had emerged for Cross. The school board voted to keep Coggins on as interim principal, with a salary of $62.70 per hour, for up to 40 hours per week.
Schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo said he hopes she has to stay on “just for the summer,” not for the next school year. He said he is interviewing four candidates this week for her job.
“It’s been difficult” to find a replacement, he said.
Is he optimistic he’ll have someone new in place by the fall?
“I don’t know,” Mayo said. “We’ll interview some folk, and we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, the school board Monday created a new administrative position that will be paid for by a one-year grant from the Buck Foundation. The job involves leadership development among city staff, including setting up a “pipeline” for teachers to become assistant principals and principals.
The job will pay up to $110,000 per year plus benefits, according to Garth Harries, the city’s school reform czar. He said he has already been putting the word out informally to people who might be interested. The job would be posted soon after its approval Monday night, he said. He said he expects to fill the position soon — as soon as the next board meeting on July 26.