‘Strong Partnership With Community’ Leads School Board to Give Erardi an ‘A’

Joseph V. Erardi Jr. had a tough list of tasks ahead entering the 2011-12 school year and members of the Board of Education last week took some time to give the educational leader their own grades on his performance.

In the end, the four-year Southington superintendent met or exceeded all expectations, Chairman Brian Goralski said Monday.

“Dr. Erardi’s ability to communicate and his active involvement throughout Southington have established a level of trust with school staff and community members that have allowed our schools to move forward and remain focused on the needs of the students,” Goralski said.

“He’s engaged and respectful, honest and people trust him. We are incredibly lucky to have a man of his caliber leading our district. He never takes credit because he’s a true leader, but he is engaged in everything.”

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Erardi was graded in areas of community and staff relationships, educational programs, business and fiscal management, personnel, educational leadership, management ability and communication skills. In all areas, he received grades that met or exceeded the school board’s expectations.

See the complete evaluation including past and future goals in the PDF above.

Erardi said Monday that one of his proudest accomplishments over the past year has been finding a way to maintain services in a tough economic climate. He said as the economy struggles, it makes it difficult for school districts throughout the state to be able to maintain quality and often leaves challenges for school superintendents.

Not only has Erardi been able to maintain and even enhance services in Southington schools but was also instrumental in helping the Board of Education pass the middle school referendum, Goralski said. He said Erardi’s partnership with the community has also led to other gifts, including grants from the Southington Education Foundation and a check from Genevieve Thalberg which led the receiving a full technological upgrade.

“These type of projects just go to show that the community trusts Dr. Erardi to use their money wisely,” Goralski said. “Too often, the economy can be used as an excuse to stop progress. He has been responsible in planning and creative in his thoughts despite the added challenges.”

Erardi said as he looks to the future, he is looking forward to taking on the challenges of creating a long-term plan to help identify a cost effective and efficient way to further enhance learning in Southington schools and better prepare students for life after schooling.

He said he is also looking forward to working closely with a new administrative team that includes three new school principals.

“It’s an exciting time for the school district as a whole. We have an emerging and changing leadership team that I look forward to working with and together we will continue to focus on providing the best education possible for our children,” Erardi said.

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