Board of Ed. May Choose Assistant Superintendent

The Naugatuck Board of Education will meet behind closed doors tonight to interview three finalists for the position of assistant superintendent of schools.

The board has posted an agenda for a special meeting stating that there may be a vote after the interviews to choose the finalist. That meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Tuttle House Board of Education building at 380 Church St.

The board has not released the names of the three finalists, one of whom is currently working in the Naugatuck School District. By law, the board is not required to release the names at this point, said Tom Hennick, public information officer for the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission. He said the names become public information once they are brought forth to the full board, which will happen tonight.

"It is our intrepretation of the FOIA laws, consisistant with decisions made by the FOIA commission, that we don't have to release the names at this point," Naugatuck Human Resource Director John Lawlor told Patch on Tuesday when asked why he has not released the names. 

The three finalists where chosen by a committee of 11 people, including school board members, school administrators and teachers, among others.

About 30 people applied for the job, Lawlor said. Two of them were from within the Naugatuck school district. School board member Glenn Connan said he was disappointed that only one internal candidate was brought forth to the full board. He wanted the full board to interview both internal candidates.

"This person could end up being our next superintendent," he said after a board meeting earlier this month. 

Whoever is hired will replace at the end of this school year.