Prin. Kornfeld Notifies
Board He Will Leave

Amos Kornfeld, principal at Tunbridge Central School for the last five years,  has accepted a job at the Ottaquechee School in Quechee and will begin his position there as of July 1.

Kornfield notified the Tunbridge School directors at the regular meeting on Monday, March 17.

An advertisement for a new principal will be placed this week in several Vermont papers and will be listed on School Spring, a popular national hiring website for educators.

"We must work quickly," said David Bickford, superintendent of the Orange Windsor Supervisory Union (OWSU), "to make sure that we position ourselves to interview the better candidates before another school scoops them up."

This is the third principal search Bickford will lead since he took the OWSU job this year, with earlier openings in Sharon and Chelsea.

(He has had good luck with the task. Sharon’s position was recently filled, and Chelsea’s was filled just this week. )

"While it is hard to see Mr. Kornfeld leave, as he has been a solid and valuable leader," said Jennifer Hayslett, Board Chair, "this search is an opportunity for our community to work together through the hiring process to create a vision for our school's future."

The Tunbridge School Board will convene a committee of 11 people made up of four Tunbridge teachers and a staff member, the three school directors, and three additional community members.

"Community input is crucial to a successful outcome in this process," said Lorinda Oliver, newly elected member of the school board.

Hiring Committee

The school directors are asking anyone who wishes to sit on the hiring committee to send a letter of interest to the superintendent's office by Monday, March 31.

"It's important that those who want to sit on this committee tell us something about their interest in being part of the search. We will be looking for hardworking team players because we'll need to move through the process quickly," said Edward "Skip" Distel, vice chair.

Members of the Principal Search Committee will be asked to commit to five to seven meetings and will need to read many resumes and respond to other committee members in a timely manner. The school directors have set five initial meeting dates; additional meeting dates may be added to the end of the schedule. The first meetings are scheduled for April 17 and April 29 at 6:30 p.m., and May 5, 6 and 7 at 6:00 p.m.

The three community members chosen to serve on the search committee will be notified on April 2 and the list of committee members will be published in the April 3 Herald.

"Of course," said Jennifer Hayslett, "even if you can't commit to the committee work, but are interested in sharing your thoughts about qualities you would like to see in our new principal, we want to hear from you. Please feel free to send your comments to us directly or through the Superintendent's office."

Letters of interest for the Tunbridge Principal Search Committee should be emailed to Superintendent Bickford at DBickford@owsu.k12.vt.us or mail to David Bickford, Orange Windsor Supervisory Union, Rte. 14, South Royalton 05068 by March 31.

Comments may be sent to Supt. Bickford or to Jennifer Hayslett at jhayslett@vermontlaw.edu, Skip Distel at skip@byselrealty.com or Lorinda Oliver at loliver@vtc.edu.