He said his leaving has nothing to do with the controversy late last year involving the high school vice principal Bryan Lombardi.
NORTHAMPTON — Less than two years after he was hired as School Superintendent, Brian L. Salzer is leaving for a position at an international school in Germany in July.
Salzer, 45, said ideally he’d like to stay here for a couple of more years, but said, “it’s a great opportunity” to head the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin.
The John F. Kennedy School is a bilingual, bicultural school. Salzer said he speaks German. He said he and his partner have always wanted to live and work abroad.
Salzer, who lives in Easthampton, said it’s hard to leave here, though. In his resignation letter in the School Committee packet for the March 14 meeting, he wrote “I have had the best professional experience of my career working in Northampton with high quality teachers, strong administrative leaders, a committed team of secretaries, nurses and custodians, and most of all, I have appreciated working with this caring supportive School Committee.”
In his letter, he cites a number of initiatives during his time here, including developing a new educator evaluation system, improving and developing an effective relationship with the union leadership and a new school budget design system.
“I think we’ve done some real good work,” he said. The measures in place are “not going to go away with my leaving.”
He said his leaving has nothing to do with the controversy late last year involving the high school vice principal Bryan Lombardi.
Salzer was critical of Lombardi having students write a pledge related to school violence two days after a threatening note was found at the high school. The pledge was seen as a way to collect handwriting samples. Salzer had said that was not the way the system did business. The move raised concerns from the America Civil Liberties Union.
But Salzer said his decision had nothing to do with that.
In a Jan. 25 post on his blog, Salzer he wrote “We have reviewed our communication and decision-making protocols; now, and in the future, we will gather more people and perspectives around the situation, respect the trusting relationship we have with our students and families, and we will work to resolve future crises in a proper and respectful manner."
In Feb. 1 post, he wrote: “I understand that some people feel compelled to weigh in on the recent controversy regarding the student pledge and I believe everyone has a right to share their thoughts, letters, and comments; however, it is important to keep perspective. The pledge issue is over; please know we have moved on.
“Bryan is an important and valued member of our leadership team and we are all effectively working together to lead and manage our schools. We have many important educational initiatives, student learning goals, and now, budget work to do. In a system as complex as a public school system, one issue should not distract from the many. Our team is intact and moving forward.”
In his letter, Salzer told the committee that he will “work to support the transition to new leadership.” His resignation is effective July 13 and gives him enough time to work through the fiscal 2014 budget.
He had replaced William Erickson, who had been filling in for Isabella Rodriguez, who left in 2011 to become Superintendent in Granby after seven years in Northampton.