Derby school board reverses course, renews contract for superintendent, assistants

A week after rejecting contract extensions for three of the district’s top officials, the Derby school board voted Monday to renew contracts for Superintendent Heather Bohaty and two assistant superintendents through the 2024-2025 school year.

The 5-2 vote at Monday’s special meeting followed an executive session that lasted two hours and 45 minutes.

Board members Pamela Doyle, Matthew Joyce, Jennifer Neel, Robyn Pearman and Tina Prunier voted to approve the contracts for Bohaty, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Becky Moeder and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Holly Putnam-Jackson.

President Michael Blankenship and board member Andy Watkins voted against extending the contracts beyond next school year.

“While we all may view different topics with different lenses, it is important to both myself and the board as a whole to provide a strong future for the educational stakeholders and students of Derby Public Schools,” Blankenship read from a prepared statement before the vote. “The board has confidence that Mrs. Bohaty, Mrs. Moeder and Dr. Putnam-Jackson will lead our staff to make strong overall improvements as a district.”

No reason was provided for the board’s initial decision to reject the extensions. Bohaty, who has been employed with the Derby district for 27 years, told The Eagle last week that she was blindsided by the vote.

School board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

In an email response to Derby parents who reached out to express their concern, Blankenship defended the role he has played in calling district leaders into question.

“I feel that our district could be doing better, in many areas. In my opinion, our full potential is not being reached,” Blankenship wrote “. . . I am not a politician, I support transparency and accountability. My actions at the last board meeting were exactly that, holding people accountable. While that may not be a popular thing to do in public education today, I feel that it is my job and I take it seriously.”