38°
"I think we have a great city and a great school district and we have great teachers and great students and I am looking forward to getting back to the work at hand for our kids and for our school district," he said after a morning press conference at the Palace Theatre on an unrelated matter.
"Although the attention has been on these important issues, I believe the majority of the kids and the teachers and the principals have been doing their jobs through it all."
He was equally careful in a statement he released later Wednesday afternoon as he thanked Hamilton for her service.
"I thank Dr. Hamilton for her dedication and service to our district over the past 45 years, where she began her career as a teacher and coach at Dolan Middle School and rose through the ranks to become an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, deputy superintendent and superintendent," he said in the statement. "I respect Dr. Hamilton’s decision to retire and make way for new leadership. I know this was a difficult choice to make and I commend Dr. Hamilton for making the decision that she felt was in the best interests of our children."
In the statement, he said it's time to move quickly to start the search for the new superintendent and to rebuild confidence in the school system.
The public scandal began last July when English teacher Danielle Watkins of Norwalk was arrested. She was sentenced to five years in prison in March as part of a plea deal for having sex with the student and supplying him with marijuana throughout the 2013-14 school year.
Principal Donna Valentine and Vice Principal Roth Nordin were arrested in October and charged with one misdemeanor count of failing to report to the state Department of Children and Families the allegations involving Watkins. Each was granted accelerated rehabilitation on Nov. 19, which will allow them to have no criminal record if they have no further legal problems.
But earlier this month, Hamilton announced she was seeking to fire Valentine and Nordin as well as assistant principal Angela Thomas Graves. Assistant Superintendent Michael Fernandes also resigned in the wake of the scandal.
Tuesday, the district announced that Raymond D. Manka, an assistant principal at Norwalk High School, will take over as Stamford High principal on July 1.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
