FARMINGTON — Farmington High School has spent the fall under a principal who came out of retirement to hold the job. On Nov. 2 it gets a permanent one: Ryan Broderick, an assistant principal at Bristol Central High School, who trained for a superintendent's job inside this district.
The timeline is short. Russ Crist, the school's principal, was gone by the time the Board of Education met on Sept. 14, when Superintendent Jess Giannini listed his exit among "several departures that are worth noting." Michael Renkawitz, retired, had already taken the interim post; he told the board that night that coming back was "a refreshing experience for me coming out of retirement." The search for Crist's successor was still live. "We're deep into it at the moment, including some focus group interviews tomorrow," Giannini said. Two weeks later, on Sept. 28, the district announced Broderick.
The district has not said why Crist left or what Renkawitz does after Nov. 2.
Broderick's résumé has one line that matters more than the rest. Before Bristol Central, he completed his superintendent internship in Farmington Public Schools, and he now holds a Connecticut superintendent's certificate. The district is hiring a high school principal who is already credentialed for the office above it, and who learned the district from inside its central office. The announcement does not say when the internship was.
The rest of the record: nearly 20 years in public education, first as a high school social studies teacher and department chair, then as an administrator. At Bristol Central his portfolio included school climate and attendance, according to the district. All of his degrees, through a doctorate in educational leadership, are from the University of Connecticut. He chairs the state golf committee of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which runs high school championships in the state.
Board Chair Andrea Sobinski said Broderick "stood out for his strong instructional background, his collaborative leadership style, and his clear commitment to academic excellence and equity." Giannini and Broderick offered the expected words of welcome and gratitude.
Farmington High is one of two schools without a permanent principal this fall. East Farms School is the other. At the same Sept. 14 meeting Giannini told the board she had just set the schedule for that search and would share the dates. The board thanked both interims for stepping in; Giannini said the district was "so thankful to have two interim administrators with lots of experience in the meantime."