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Community Corner

Remember When: Milford welcomes new schools chief

I wanted to share this Jan 2011 article with all of you as I find it somewhat of a paradox.

MILFORD -- Elizabeth Feser may have missed her cue and hadn't yet signed a contract, but when she was introduced as the new school superintendent Monday night, she said all the right things.

"I have no desire to turn the system upside down," Feser told about 75 people in the Jonathan Law High School media center. "Rather, I intend to build on the good work that is already going on, and I will work collaboratively with the administration and staff to improve the things that need improving."

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When Chairman Mark Stapleton introduced her at the end of the Board of Education's regular business meeting, Feser was waiting in the cafeteria and did not hear it. But when she did enter five minutes later, the current Windsor schools chief got a standing ovation and an enthusiastic welcome.

When she starts work here on April 4, Feser, 60, will receive a salary and benefits package totaling $205,000 per year, about $2,000 more than Harvey Polansky, who was suspended over allegations of sexual assault and retired June 30.

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Stapleton said that while the new superintendent's base salary of $185,000 is slightly higher than Polansky's, Feser will not receive any contribution toward her pension, life or long-term care insurance. "When Dr. Feser retires, it will cost the Milford taxpayer nothing; Dr. Polansky would have received about $30,000," the board chairman said.

The tall, gray-haired superintendent had not yet signed her contract, even as a reception welcoming her to the job was going on. Stapleton said the pact would be signed by all sides before the end of Monday night. The three-year deal runs until March 31, 2014; her compensation will be reviewed in June.

Feser, who reportedly plans to move here, asked the assembled parents and teachers for their help in learning about Milford. "I have a lot to learn about this community, you and your children so I can better serve you.

"I commit to you that I will always work for what is best for the children," she said. Feser had been principal of Danbury High School and an assistant superintendent in New Canaan earlier in her career, and has worked in both public and parochial education. She has headed the Windsor public schools, a district slightly smaller than Milford, for the past nine years.

Feser received her masters and doctoral degrees in education from Columbia University. Stapleton said he's been told that Milford "struck gold" with her appointment. The new superintendent is the district's third in eight years; there have also been two interim superintendents.

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