Happy Trails

Norfolk has a good elementary school system, but parents need to keep watch over the schools and the School Committee, said Norfolk’s outgoing superintendent Don LeClerc.

“I would strongly encourage the parents in Norfolk to stay in touch with their committee and pay attention to what they’re doing, because it’s their children’s future,” LeClerc said. “… It’s not just status quo. It’s very tumultuous times, and people need to stay abreast.”

LeClerc said he knows it’s hard to sit through School Committee meetings even at home on television, but he suggested that parents at least go through meeting minutes.

LeClerc, 56, officially retires June 30, but he was planning to leave the same day as the teachers start their summer vacation, Friday, June 18, using vacation time to end his run.

LeClerc became superintendent of Norfolk’s elementary schools in July 2008.

“It’s been a good two years. I’m glad I did it. I’m glad I met the people I met,” LeClerc said in an interview late this week.

In thanking people he worked with, LeClerc mentioned Norfolk’s town administrator, Jack Hathaway; selectmen Jim Lehan, Rob Garrity, and Jim Tomaszewski; and School Committee members Beth Gilbert, John Olivieri, Dean Manning, Shawn Dooley, and Thomas Doyle.

Asked about accomplishments in Norfolk, LeClerc highlighted the forthcoming new elementary school to replace Freeman-Centennial. Voters approved the $36.9 million project in December.

“Norfolk is going to be very lucky in two years when they have a new school. It’s going to be a gorgeous brand-new school,” LeClerc said. “… It’s a time when the people of Norfolk stepped up and realized what’s best for the town and for the children.”

Budget cuts were among the hardest things he encountered in Norfolk.

“Certainly the biggest challenge has been the budget. I come in for two years, you try to do what’s best for the school, and in those two years you end up cutting $2 million because of the state of the economy. And that was very, very hard. Norfolk has lost some excellent programs,” LeClerc said.

LeClerc also clashed with some members of the School Committee over whether the elementary schools should share a superintendent with King Philip (which he felt would hurt the elementary schools) and whether the school district should keep Carol Riccardi Gahan as special education director (which the School Committee decided not to do), among other things.

“They made some decisions that I philosophically and educationally didn’t agree with,” LeClerc said. “… I didn’t want to see the actions of a few tear down what you build up, so I decided it was time.”

The School Committee didn’t force LeClerc out, and members seemed shocked when he announced in January he would retire a year before his contract ran out.

LeClerc was popular with selectmen and also received support from parents who spoke out publicly in favor of keeping him.

Some town and school officials tried to talk him out of leaving, but LeClerc held firm, and eventually the School Committee decided to hire an interim superintendent to replace him. Former Sharon superintendent Claire Jackson was set to begin late this week.

LeClerc said he plans to do some educational consulting for Cambridge Education in Westwood, starting with teacher and administrator evaluations in Hillsborough County in Florida, where Tampa is, next month.

LeClerc said he has some experience doing similar work, and that he finds it satisfying because the teachers and administrators he has met are open to finding better ways to teach.

“I’m here to make school a better school so that children can be in a better place,” LeClerc said.

He also plans to spend much of the summer relaxing, including some time fishing off his 30-foot boat (the Summer School) in his native Salem.