MIDDLEBURY — Addison Central School District Business Manager Josh Quinn will soon step down from his post to take a new job as an audit manager with a Maine-based accounting firm, RHR Smith & Co.
So ends Quinn’s brief but eventful tenure as the numbers guru for the ACSD, which serves students in the seven Middlebury-area elementary schools, as well as Middlebury Union middle and high schools. During his almost two-year tenure, Quinn developed the district’s first two consolidated K-12 budgets, for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years. Prior to his arrival, the ACSD had prepared separate annual spending plans for UD-3 (covering the middle school and high school) and the individual elementary schools in Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.
Quinn and his family will remain in Addison County. Quinn will be able to work for his new employer from his own home.
He will leave with fond memories of his association with the district.
“I enjoyed getting to the know the schools and staff in each of our communities,” Quinn said. “I was proud to be part of the positive change of International Baccalaureate at ACSD and look forward to my own kids’ learning experiences in the program. Lastly, I can’t express enough how impressed I am with the expertise of the finance team. Their knowledge, commitment and effort made the complex unification of our districts smooth and manageable.”
It was on July 11, 2016, that Quinn officially replaced former ACSD Business Manager David Boucher, who also had a two-year run in the job before moving on. Taking the job required Quinn to step down as a member of a new panel he would later serve: The merged ACSD board, made up of representatives of each of the seven district towns. Quinn was one of seven Middlebury residents who had won election to the 13-member panel, which governs the district and oversees the  single budget for school services.
Peter Burrows, ACSD superintendent, praised Quinn for his work and wished him well in his new job.
“He was a major catalyst for getting us moving in the right direction and going through unification, which was highly complex,” Burrows said. “He’s leaving behind some work we’re going to be building on as we continue through unification.
“I think he brought a lot of clarity to financial management at ACSD, and that’s something we really needed,” he added.
The ACSD posted its business manager job a few weeks ago and began interviewing initial candidates last week, according to Burrows. The position will remain open to applicants until it is filled.
“Our hope is to get someone in to train with Josh and make a smooth transition,” Burrows said.
As of last week, the district had no other key administrative staff vacancies to fill leading into the 2018-2019 school year. At the same time, the ACSD as of last week was looking to fill around 10 teaching positions. This is in large part due to more than 20 teacher retirements expected at the end of this school year, according to Burrows. ACSD offered early retirement incentives to veteran teachers earlier this year in an effort to reduce the 2018-2019 budget.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].