Dr. Larson was Middletown's Superintendent from 1992-2000, Southington's Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction from 1988 - 1992, and Ridgefield's Superintendent from 1987-1988. He started his teaching career in math at Trumbull High School in 1965.
After his retirement in 2000 from active school involvement, Dr. Larson was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents Association in West Hartford until 2008. When he retired from that position in 2008, Larson went on to work as a Senior Educational Consultant with Futures Education as well as an Educational Consultant with the University of Connecticut CommPACT Schools Project.
Dr. Larson has lived in Middletown for 19 years, and he starts work tomorrow morning. BOE Chairman Dr. Gene Nocera commented, "We could not have found a more qualified candidate. David Larson brings instant credibility to our district, and he will be incredibly helpful in the day to day operations as well as helping to guide us in finding a new superintendent."
Just moments before confirming Dr. Larson as the Interim Superintendent, the BOE voted itself (the full board of education) to be the search committee for a new Superintendent. Dr. Nocera confirmed that the board will start meeting with search organizations next week as the national search for a new superintendent begins.
Dr. Larson believes his immediate job is "to make sure our children continue to get a quality education. This district has great staff, several principals that I hired back in the day, and we're going to work together for the next six months or so as the search begins for a new superintendent."
Dr. Larson will also shepherd the process to find a new Asst. Superintendent as the current Asst. Superintendent, Barbara Senges, is retiring at the end of the month.
Two Board members were missing from tonight's meeting: Ted Raczka is on vacation, and Attorney William G. Grady has resigned his position on the board (as the EYE reported last week). Dr. Nocera expects that by the next meeting, the vacant position will have been filled by a joint Mayoral/Common Council nomination and confirmation process. The new board member will have to be a Democrat as well.
