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Deputy Superintendent Evie Velazquez: Out.
The school’s deputy superintendent, Ivelise Velazquez, will resign within a month to pursue her doctorate at Columbia University’s Teachers College and eventually find work that’s “more appropriately aligned” with her goals for early literacy and racial equity.
Velazquez made that announcement about her pending July 21 resignation in a Friday letter to Superintendent Carol Birks, Mayor Toni Harp, Board of Education President Darnell Goldson and Human Resources Director Lisa Mack.
Velazquez said that she is leaving because she wants to focus on her studies and pursue work that’s a better fit.
“As you know, I was accepted into the doctoral program at Teachers College, and after careful consideration, I realize that my current position will not afford me the time and commitment that I wish to dedicate to my studies,” she wrote. “I will be seeking employment that is more appropriately aligned with my goals regarding early literacy and racial equity.
“I appreciate the opportunity you have given me. It has been a pleasure working with the people of New Haven this past year, and I wish all of you well with the work ahead of you,” she went on. “I offer my assistance with the transition of my duties so that the work I initiated, with early childhood and for English learners in particular, may continue after my departure.”
Velazquez decided to enter into education after seeing inequity firsthand. When she was in fifth grade, her family won the lottery, enabling a move from a tiny apartment in the South Bronx to a house in Long Island. Her classmates went from being entirely Black and Hispanic to predominantly white; she went from being the top student to remedial classes.
“It was not as easy or maybe as beneficial as my parents had wanted it to be,” she said. “What it took me a long time to recognize is that it wasn’t me that had changed. It was the system that had changed.”
While at Teachers College, Velazquez said, she plans to focus on the differences in how literacy instruction is delivered in cities and suburbs.
Velazquez: Looking for work that’s “more appropriately aligned with my goals.”
As deputy superintendent for the last nine months, a $175,000 position, Velazquez had been overseeing a curriculum audit, working on a district improvement plan and other strategic planning, and enacting non-discrimination policies for gay and transgender students.
She’d also tried to bring in a $144,000 data consultant, but the school board rejected the proposal.
She also set up a summer pilot program to try out adding a play-based curriculum to the early grades and helped organize a two-day event with Stephen Krashen, a well-known linguistics professor who’s studied how children acquire a second language.
This school year, top administrators have been leaving in droves. In the past few months, the district has lost Chief Operating Officer Will Clark, Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Leadership Gil Traverso, Director of English Language Learners Abie Benitez, Special Education Supervisor Patrica Moore, Labor Relations Officer Vallerie Hudson-Brown and High School Arts Director Timothy Jones.
Five principals — Ross-Woodward’s Cheryl Herring-Brown, Riverside’s Larry Conaway, Clemente’s Pam Franco, Barnard’s Rosalyn Bannon and Edgewood’s Shanta Smith — also said they won’t be coming back next school year.