Education
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Julie Droller Appointed Principal of Hindley School After Nearly a School Year as Interim Principal

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Julie Droller, named interim principal of Hindley School last August, now has been appointed principal by the Darien Board of Education. Last August, Droller was hired to fill the position after former Principal DJ Collela was put on leave. Collela would be on leave for “the beginning of the 2018-19 school year,” Interim Superintendent Elliott Landon said in a Aug. 17 letter to parents of Hindley students. On Tuesday morning, Landon announced the appointment, made Monday night at a special Board of Education meeting.

Education
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Editorial: Don’t Criticize Public Officials for Merely Noting How Much Special Education Costs

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Board of Finance Chairman Jon Zagrodzky is being criticized by some parents of Darien special education students who imply that he’s attacking special education spending. The accusations are exaggerated, sometimes inaccurate and occasionally nonsense. Readers can see that for themselves in the excerpt of his speech we’ve published at the bottom, and compare that with what the letters said. Zagrodzky’s public office concerns town spending, and education spending takes up most of what taxpayers fork over to the town. Special education spending alone, as he noted, has a budget of roughly $24 million — a quarter of the entire education budget.

Education
Darien Public Schools

After-School and Evening Activities Cancelled by Darien Public Schools

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All after-school and evening activities at Darien Public Schools have been cancelled for Thursday due to weather concerns, according to an email from a school district official. The email, from Darien High School Principal Ellen Dunn, referenced “the school district decision to cancel after-school and evening activities” Thursday night. The school district neither sent an email to news organizations in town nor mentioned the cancellation on its website. It may have sent an email to parents. Here is the text of the email, sent at 11:16 a.m.:

Due to the impending weather and the school district decision to cancel after-school and evening activities, Thursday evening’s performance of Our Town has been re-scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets purchased for Thursday will be honored for the Saturday 2 p.m. show.

Education
Darien Public Schools

What to Look for in Next Schools Superintendent: Public Invited to Take Survey, Attend October Meetings

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In looking for Darien’s next superintendent of schools, the Board of Education says it wants to hear from Darien residents and school district staff, so the board announced an online survey available for anyone to fill out by Oct. 26 and “focus groups” (meetings) available to town residents on two dates in October. Here’s the board’s announcement, followed by the full text of the survey:

The Darien Board of Education has hired School Leadership, LLC to assist it in the search process for a new superintendent of schools. It is the intention of the Board of Education to have this process completed so that a permanent superintendent is in place for the start of the new school year on July 1, 2019. Dr. Elliott Landon currently serves as interim superintendent of schools.