Freund Cites 'Personal, Professional' Reasons for Resignation

Greenwich School Superintendent Dr. Sidney announced his resignation Tuesday, effective in September.

The announcement is an ironic twist coming just days after the Board of Education voted to begin contract extension negotiations with the veteran educator. Freund, who earns $230,000 as the head of the 9,000-student Greenwich school system, is in the second-year of a three-year contract.

In a letter released after an emergency meeting of the Board of Education at  7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Freund said, “Personal and professional factors weighed heavily on my decision to resign. This has not been an easy decision. I poured my heart and soul into Greenwich. I have worked hard to re-instill public confidences in our schools and its leadership.”

School Board Spokewoman Kim Eves said Freund, 62, would not make any public comments on his resignation.

In his letter, Freund wrote, “It’s unlikely that the residents of Greenwich, or any community for that matter, will ever fully agree on the direction of a school; however, it is important that all engage in honest and respectful dialogue. It is also important that the Greenwich community become unified and supportive of a direction once it has been publicly debated and agreed upon by a majority of the elected Board.”

The references to respectful dialogue, unity and support are all part of a failure on the part of the school board, according to Board Chairman Steve Anderson.

Without making direct accusations, Anderson said, “Anybody who’s been at our meetings in the last 6 months has seen napalm politics … that you’re never done with the topic. This is collateral damage to napalm politics.”

In recent months, there have been several clashes between Freund and Republican board members Marianna Ponns Cohen and Peter Sherr over many issues including the expansion of the International Baccalaureate program at the middle school level, and the Music Instructional Space and Auditorium expansion project at Greenwich High School.

Anderson said the entire eight-member board is to blame for Freund’s decision. “It’s the failure of the entire board. We need to figure out how to correct that,” Anderson said. Asked how the board can accomplish that, Anderson replied, “I don’t know obviously but we’re going to have to get tremendous focus. We cannot keep doing this our superintendents.”

The Greenwich school system has had eight superintendents in the past dozen years. Freund has been the district’s schools chief since 2009.

Anderson also said, “We hire smart people, put them in the job and we have to make sure that we the board and the community give them room to maneuver and to do the job we want them to do.”

Requests for comments from Ponns Cohen and Sherr were not immediately answered.

Under the terms of his contract, Freund, who began his career as a teacher in the New York City public school system in 1970, had to give the school board 120 days notice.

According to Anderson, Freund “is amenable to us having him leaving earlier. We would want him around during the summer to help the transition and before school starts up we would have an interim (superintendent), sometime in mid-August.”  Anderson “whether the interim is internal or external has not even been discussed yet.”

When asked to describe the tenor of Freund’s morning meeting with the school board, Anderson said, “I think the general response is that we’re very bummed out, I wish I had a more eloquent (comment) … We understand what he’ been going through.”

Following his meeting with the board, Freund and Anderson then met with Freund’s cabinet. “We met with the district’s leadership council … all of the building administrators and coordinators. They gave him a standing ovation which I think gives testimony to the leader he is,” Anderson said. Nearly 70 staff members attended.

“I think it’s a sad day for Greenwich education,” Anderson added,  “He and I met with cabinet and I met individually with cabinet. He’s put really good people in really key spots and the message was ‘we need you to stay on - to keep all 9,000 students in focus and keep doing a really good job.’ ”

In his letter which was sent to parents and school personnel, Freund said, “Greenwich has the human and material resources at its disposal to become the premier school district in the country. I hope that the Board and the community will remain focused on the “big prize”, the children of our community.”

Earlier this year, Freund was tapped to receive the inaugural Connecticut Parent Teacher Student Association Superintendent of the Year Award.