After a joint Whitingham/Twin Valley board meeting last month, Whitingham board members voted to hire Keith Lyman as Whitingham Elementary/Twin Valley Middle School Principal. At Tuesday evening’s meeting, Lyman thanked the board for their confidence in him. “I’m tremendously excited to be part of the community here,” Lyman said. “The welcome has been fabulous. The central office and staff at the school have been awesome. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone in the community.”
Lyman, who until recently served as athletic director at Leland & Gray Union Middle/High School, said he “might have to wear a Leland & Gray cap with my Wildcat shirt.”
New Windham Southwest Supervisory Union Superintendent Dr. Jack Rizzo told board members that his was a “students first” educational philosophy. “It’s simple,” he said, “23 years ago, when I first became a principal, I felt that I needed some kind of credo – kids come first. I’ve done for my students what my mother did for her sons, and that’s love them, love them enough to support their dreams and hopes, laugh with them, and cry with them. Love them unconditionally, but hold them accountable – a lessons learned approach.”
Rizzo said he would assert his authority over the principals in the supervisory union, and he expected board members to follow the chain of command. “Ultimately, I’m accountable, but I hold principals accountable for their own buildings,” he said. “I was hired to lead. If there’s a problem, I don’t want a board member to go to the principal before coming to me. I just want Keith and Frank to answer to the superintendent of schools.”
Rizzo described his style as “hands on,” and said he would be in each school in the supervisory union at least two times per week. “You’ll see a lot of me,” he said. “I want to get to know the kids. I’ll do a lot of walk-throughs, and I expect principals to walk through every day.”
Rizzo said he planned to meet with “every single paid stakeholder” in the supervisory union over the next several months. “It will help me with vision,” he said. “Leaders set the tone, but it would be foolhardy of me not to hear what you have to say. I’ll ask about the strengths and challenges of your school, and the strengths and challenges of the supervisory union.”
In other matters, board members discussed efforts to cut down on the number of meetings that occur over the course of the month. Twin Valley board members attend three meetings per month, two Twin Valley meetings and a town school board meeting. Often, the issues discussed at one meeting are repeated at another.
Board member Jack Kincella suggested holding two meetings. One meeting would be held in Whitingham, with Whitingham board members and Twin Valley board members. Part of the meeting would be dedicated to Whitingham matters, and part would focus on Twin Valley issues. Two weeks later, a similar meeting would occur in Wilmington, including Wilmington board members and Twin Valley board members.
“My only concern is that it would make for long meetings,” said board member Doug Swanson. “Something’s going to be shortchanged. If you’re in there for the fourth hour, you’re going to table (the discussion).”
Kincella said he was offering the idea as a departure point for discussion. “I don’t know if that’s the right thing, but we’ve got to do something to make it more streamlined,” he said. “That would remove two nights.”
Twin Valley High School Principal Frank Spencer said the joint meetings could be an opportunity for professional collaboration. Before Twin Valley School District was created, he said, he and (former) Deerfield Valley Elementary School Principal Kathy Larsen attended meetings together. “Now the DVES principal sits alone,” he said. “I remember how important it was for me to have someone else there to share ideas with.”
Board members also noted that the combined meetings could improve ongoing efforts to ensure uniformity among the three school districts. “The ultimate goal is to create one district,” said Swanson.
Finally, the board discussed what may be good news for oil pans across the valley. Twin Valley High School’s crumbling, pot-holed parking lot will soon be resurfaced. Spencer said the Wilmington Highway Department would smooth the parking lot in preparation for paving in the next few days. He said the paving would be done before Old Home Week. The paving will include an inch-and-a-quarter layer of new blacktop on the upper and lower lots at the rear of the high school building at a cost estimated at about $16,000, according to WSSU Business Manager Ronda Lackey.
Board members asked if the price included a driveway that runs from the parking lot to Beaver Street. “Well, that’s School Street, so it’s the town’s responsibility,” Spencer said, “but yes, they’re going to pave it.” Spencer noted that there had been some confusion over what was School Street, and what was Beaver Street – some had contended that School Street ran from Route 9 by Richards Group Insurance and intersected with Beaver Street near Haynes Hall.
But the town had determined that the entire stretch of road from Pettee Memorial Library to the intersection with Route 9 near Richards Group is all Beaver Street. School Street is a narrow spur off Beaver Street that terminates at the school.
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