School Board Chairman Says She Will Step Down This Month

By: Jeff White

After ten years on the Newtown Board of Education, school board chairman Amy Dent resigned late last week in the middle of her four-year term, effective November 10.

“I am unable to complete my term of office because of the increasing demands on my time that my job requires,” Mrs Dent, 50, wrote in a letter to Town Clerk Cynthia Curtis Simon. Mrs Dent is managing director for Cornell Group International, a Newburgh, New York firm for executive recruiting in financial services and technology.

Over the past several months, Mrs Dent has been wrestling with the decision to leave office. Originally, she thought she would be able to resign last summer, after the board received conclusive information concerning the fifth- and sixth-grade school.

The delays that have plagued the Fairfield Hills development issue have hindered the board’s efforts to move on a 5/6 school. Although at first Mrs Dent felt that she could finish her term, when she took a closer look at the upcoming decisions that the board will face, she opted to step down in favor of someone “who could more fully participate in these important decisions.”

“Over the next two years the Board of Education will be addressing the needs of our growing student population and managing the impact of that growth on our schools,” Mrs Dent wrote. “The students and citizens of Newtown deserve to be represented in those very serious decisions by individuals who can give the focused attention that I find I can no longer give.”

Following the meetings held two weeks ago concerning the disposition of Fairfield Hills and its ramifications on the construction of a new school, Mrs Dent wrote, “It became clear to me I could not manage to find the time to add the responsibilities attendant to the development of that project to my already full schedule.”

In deciding on the right time to resign, Mrs Dent also took in to account the budget deliberations that are slated to begin in early December.

Mrs Dent served on the PTA Council as secretary and the Legislative Council before beginning her Board of Education service in 1989. During her ten years on the board, she also held the office of vice chairperson before ascending to the chairperson position vacated by Herb Rosenthal in 1997.

“She has been a very articulate and dedicated advocate for the Newtown school system and its students, and as chairperson she has functioned very effectively on behalf of the entire school system,” Superintendent of Schools John Reed said this week. “I’m grateful that we have had the opportunity to work, for the length of time we have had, together as superintendent and chairperson.”

As she prepares to step down next Wednesday, Mrs Dent leaves encouraged with the state of Newtown schools. “I’m proud of the fact that our students are doing as well as they are,” she said this week. “[I’m proud] that they seem to be getting well placed in colleges and secondary education or in jobs after they leave Newtown.

“I’m proud of the fact that our teacher training and staff development programs are working so well. [The programs] have helped us improve the quality of education for the students and to attract some very  [qualified] teachers and administrators to our system.”

The Board of Education bylaw calls for an organizational meeting to take place for the election of board officers; December is the month for such an election, so the board will wait until then to address the question chairmanship.

With the position of vice chairperson still vacant after the resignation of Susan Hills in February, Board of Education Secretary Elaine McClure, the only other officer of the board, will assume Amy Dent’s duties until a new chairman is elected.