Last night's Board of Education (BOE) meeting brought Ridgefield Superintendent Karen Baldwin's tenure to an end. The Board authorized the Board Chair, Fran Walton to enter into a resignation agreement with the Superintendent of Schools. The support from the BOE was unanimous.
This development comes following Baldwin being placed on administrative leave with pay after she used the same verbiage of the West Hartford Public Schools Superintendent, Tom Moore when writing to parents and the school community on February 22, after the tragic shooting in a Florida high school.
The similarity of the two letters was brought to light by Ridgefield High Senior, Paul Kim.
Walton told us that the Board appointed Dr. Rob Miller, RPS Director of Technology, as Acting Superintendent of Schools, effective upon approval by the Commissioner of Education of the State of Connecticut until June 30, 2018 and subject to the following condition: approval of the Commissioner of Education in accordance with Section 10-157 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
In response to the allegations of the February 22 letter, Baldwin issued an apology to the school community writing: “I recognize my decision to value another superintendent's words over my own voice may have compromised the important message, and I apologize for any uncertainty in our security practices it may have caused.”