CORNWALL — The Cornwall School Board will form a search committee to seek a full-time replacement for current Bingham Memorial School Principal Denise Goodnow, who will soon leave to become co-leader of the Thatcher Brook Primary School in Waterbury.
Cornwall school directors recently charted that path, after receiving community input on how they should go about replacing Goodnow, who has been principal for the past seven years. School directors were prepared to look at many options, including the concept of a shared principal with a neighboring community, noted Cornwall School Board Chairman John Eagan. The board held a meeting on April 11 to solicit feedback.
“We had a nice discussion with the 30 or so people who showed up,” Eagan said.
Following that discussion, the board passed a resolution authorizing Superintendent Gail Conley to establish a search committee to find a new, full-time principal. Eagan realizes this is not an ideal time in which to be recruiting a new principal, though Cornwall remains a very desirable place to live and its school has garnered a good reputation.
“There is somewhat of a sense we are entering the process very late to have someone here by July 1,” he said.
Still, the committee will quickly place an ad on SchoolSpring.com and other employment sites catering to education professionals in hopes of identifying a finalist by the end of May.
If the recruitment effort does not produce a successor in time for July 1, school directors are prepared to appoint an interim principal while the search continues.
“There are a lot of moving parts to this,” Eagan said.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].