Tindall-Gibson Gets Another Year as Superintendent

Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson is now officially Naugatuck’s chief of school until the summer of 2013.

The Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday evening to extend Tindall-Gibson’s contract as superintendent for another year, from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013. the same $147,465 salary he has earned for the past three years.

Despite originally stating he would retire after his contract expired in 2012, Tindall-Gibson reversed his opinion and said Thursday he’s happy to stay on for another year. He cited Naugatuck High School’s $81 million renovation plan as superintendent during that project’s initial phase.

“When it’s done, it’s really going to be a world-class school,” the superintendent said.

Chairman David Heller also noted the renovation project when he spoke about the one-year extension for the superintendent.

“I would point out that our superintendent has a great deal of experience with regard to building projects both in this job and in his former job in Rhode Island,” Heller said during the meeting at Hillside Intermediate School.

Tindall-Gibson has been the school chief in Naugatuck since 2006. He has served as superintendent of schools in Lincoln, R.I., and Litchfield. He was also superintendent during the 2009 budget crisis, when it was discovered that there was a potential $2 million operational deficit, and had received calls from the teacher’s union and Mayor Robert Mezzo to resign.

Mezzo reversed his opinion, writing in a blog post this week that he felt Tindall-Gibson is working well with the district, particularly in the reorganization of the school’s business office, the implementation of the NHS renovation and working with the current board.