Newfound student services director resigns after just 2 weeks

BRISTOL — Two weeks after being hired as the new student services director for Newfound Area School District, Sophia Fowler submitted her letter of resignation. She agreed to stay on the job until Aug. 23.

The Newfound Area School Board hired Fowler, along with Business Administrator Angela Carpenter, at a special meeting on July 12. In a letter to Superintendent Paul Hoiriis dated July 29, Fowler gave formal notice she would be leaving.

At its Aug. 14 meeting, the school board accepted Fowler’s resignation, creating an opening just weeks before classes resume.

Hoiriis on Aug. 20 released a redacted copy of Fowler’s letter of resignation, blacking out the second paragraph. Prior to its release, Hoiriis said he wanted to speak with her “about her comfort level on how much she is willing to share,” saying the public is “not legally entitled to her reason if it is protected under privacy laws.”

The unredacted portion of the letter states, “Please accept this letter as formal notice of my resignation from my position as Special Education Administrator with SAU 4. [Redacted paragraph.] I would like the opportunity to thank you for the time I was able to assist the SAU with their needs and look forward [to] the next opportunity.”

A followup letter dated Aug. 20 said, “Thank you for the opportunity to work with the amazing staff at the SAU. You have secured talented individuals to work alongside you. As you embark on your first year as Superintendent, you have made a welcoming environment where it shows you care deeply for the staff and students in your district.

“My formal last day of work will be Friday August 23, 2024.”

Public hearing

The school board also acted on Hoiriis’ request to replace the built-in cafeteria tables at Danbury Elementary School. Hoiriis and other staff members explained the tables are more than 50 years old, having been installed in the multi-purpose room when the elementary school was built. The tables are heavy, the springs have degraded, and the hinges are broken, causing them to frequently fall out of the wall as they are being lowered.

“It takes several staff members to safely take them down and put them up,” Hoiriis explained.

Money for the table replacement was not included in the budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, but Hoiriis said purchasing new ones was a priority, and he suggested using money set aside in the Building Maintenance Expendable Trust Fund.

Taking money from the trust fund requires a public hearing, followed by school board approval.

Several residents argued the purpose of the building maintenance fund is to maintain and repair school buildings, and using the money for the tables would be illegal.

Hoiriis pointed out that, because the tables are built into the walls of the school, they are considered part of its construction.

“We did try to see if ESSA [Every Student Succeeds Act] funds could pay for them,” Hoiriis said, “but because they are fixed into the wall, ESSA called that construction. So, having labeled it as construction ... we saw our next option would be to look at the Maintenance Trust Fund as a source to pay for this.”

The district asked for three bids for the replacement, but received only two: $49,481.82 from Hertz Furniture and $52,669.50 from palmer Hamilton Design.

In addition to being more expensive, the bid from PH Design did not include the tables’ installation or removal of the old tables, and the order would take 18 to 20 weeks to process, plus seven to 10 days for shipping, Hoiriis said. Hertz included all of that but, like PH Design, did not include the cost of a bin for disposal of the old tables.

The superintendent said there may be other associated costs, bringing to total to between $50,000 and $55,000, so he recommended approving the higher figure and awarding the bid to Hertz.

Some residents and school board members said they did not understand why the district would not replace the built-in tables with traditional cafeteria tables or rollaway tables, which could be purchased for around $10,000. Hoiriis said, because of the small size of the multi-purpose room, there is no room to store such tables when other functions are taking place.

Other questions concerned an earlier estimate that $150,000 would be leftover from the 2023-24 fiscal year. The actual amount of those unexpended funds will not be known until September. Another suggestion was to use money the school board earmarked for a new modular classroom at Danbury Elementary School last year — a project abandoned when the board learned there was not enough money remaining in the budget.

School Board member Jennifer Larochelle of Hebron said the tables were in disrepair 15 years ago when she taught in Danbury, and she made the motion to approve the $55,000 purchase with money in the expendable trust fund. That motion passed.