Brookfield Principal

Accepts Supt. Position

By Sandy Vondrasek

Brookfield has joined the list of area schools seeking a new principal for next fall. Bob Rosane, Brookfield Elementary School principal since 2003, confirmed last week that he is moving north to become the superintendent of the Franklin Central Supervisory Union, based in St. Albans.

The search for Rosane’s replacement has already begun, making Brookfield the fourth area school do a principal hunt this year. Sharon and Chelsea have already hired their new principals, and Tunbridge launched its search a few weeks ago.

Orange Southwest Supervisory Union Supt. Brent Kay said this week that he will screen applications for the Brookfield position, and then forward solid candidates to a search committee for review. The committee, with representatives from the Brookfield community, school board, and staff, will narrow the field to a few finalists.

The entire staff and the wider community will then have their chance to meet the finalists, ask them questions, and provide feedback to the committee. Kay will make a recommendation to Brookfield School Board.

Despite the relative lateness of the year, Kay said he was optimistic that the vacancy would attract good candidates, thanks to Brookfield’s tradition of community support and strong student performance. Another positive, Kay said, is that OSSU is a "consistent system" with very little administrative turnover.

Kay noted that the two principals OSSU has lost, Steve Metcalf and now Rosane, had both gone on to become superintendents. Metcalf was hired last year as Montpelier’s super, after one year at the Orange Windsor SU.

Rosane had been one of two finalists for the Montpelier superintendency last year, so his announcement this year was not a huge surprise. Kay referred to the Brookfield vacancy as "planned."

For the past two years, Rosane worked at the OSSU office as a one-day-a-week assistant superintendent, with his principal job reduced to four days a week.

Rosane said his shift from being a full-time principal "was based on the needs of the supervisory union and the student population" at Brookfield, which has dropped.

As assistant superintendent, Rosane focused on a data system to track the progress of each student. The part-time position was paid through OSSU, using mostly federal education funds.

According to Rosane, the data systems and student tests OSSU has developed help the schools to serve kids, and the district to meet the requirements and "scrutiny" of federal education laws.

"I think we are way ahead of the curve as a system," Rosane added. "I am proud of that and very excited to bring that data-driven focus to a new system."

Rosane said it had been a privilege to work with Kay, and added that OSSU is considered to be "one of the best performing systems in the state by all measures."

Rosane said that Franklin Central Supervisory SU is a big district with about 3000 students; that’s more than twice as big as the 1350 or so students in OSSU. He starts his new job July 1, and continues at Brookfield and OSSU through June.

Community members interested in participating on the search committee should contact Barbara Ennis at the OSSU office, 728-5052.