On June 23, at the last Board of Education meeting, the board heard statements from other board members and people in the community praising and giving a farewell to various officials who were stepping down at the end of the school year.
Darienite.com is publishing several of the statements. Here’s the first. Board of Education member Michael Burke gave this statement about Lynne B. Pierson, who stepped down as interim superintendent of schools:
Dr. Lynne Pierson, who stepped down in late June as Darien Public Schools interim superintendent of schools.
Dr. Lynne B. Pierson, a graduate of Hammod High School, with a BS [bachelor of science degree] in special education from Indiana University, and a masters [degree] in special education, also from Indiana University, earned her doctorate in education from Loyola University of Chicago before becoming a participant in the educational policy fellowship sponsored by the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington D.C.
In her distinguished career before coming to Darien, she has led and improved school systems as near as Weston and as distant as Saudi Arabia.
My first interaction with Dr. Pierson came not as a board member but as a parent. My wife and others were involved in organizing the Fifth Grade Picnic at Holmes last year. The parents wanted a dunk tank and the principal did not, and I was asked to see if I could get Dr. Pierson to intercede.
I wrote her expecting … and hoping that she would put it off or ignore it and get me off the hook. Instead, I got a response that was immediate, cogent and fair.
Dr. Pierson wrote that while there was no district rule against the tanks, she would support her principal, since it was her building and she would know best. I reported to my wife that I had good news and bad news. The bad news was that it did not look [good] for the dunk tank. The really good news was that we had a superior superintendent leading our district.
Dr. Pierson has not only justified that impression, she has exceeded it. The energy, intellect, care and devotion that she has brought to our district has enabled us to restore morale, create better ways to meet challenges and help all of our learners realize their potential while winning the confidence of an aggressive board, the trust of skeptical parents and (most recently) the appreciation of a zealous press. No easy task! Dr. Pierson came to us in a time of crisis. She leaves us with a school system that is poised for greatness.
While to compare the challenges that Dr. Pierson faced upon her arrival here with the Battle of Gettysburg would be perhaps overstating it, I believe that it is fair to close by paraphrasing President Lincoln’s address and say: While our community will little note nor long remember what we say here tonight, we can never forget what Dr. Pierson has done here. We wish you Godspeed and hope you will come back often to this place we call home. Thank you!