The Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee in Western Massachusetts has started the search for its third superintendent in five years. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief JD Allen spoke with District Superintendent Robert Putnam, who is retiring at the end of the school year.
Putnam is retiring in June after a challenging year.
District enrollment continues to drop and in July residents struggled to pass a school budget. Some were unhappy about the district’s decision to close Cheshire Elementary School.
“I tried to do my best for the district,” Putnam says. “I worked to implement changes that recognized the fiscal constraints and reallocated funds from facilities to personnel. Difficult choices had to be made.”
The School Committee hopes to have a new superintendent – eyed for a three- to five-year commitment – selected by March.
