MIDDLETOWN — The Board of Education approved Superintendent Karen Bilbao’s retirement at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Bilbao’s retirement will take effect Feb. 1.
The board needed to approve her retirement because she gave 60 days’ notice, rather than the 120 days her contract stipulates.
However, board member Joan Minnuies expressed concern for the upcoming school budget process.
“I believe that we should have the effective date for the 120 days.
“We have no one in this district that has put together the Middletown budget before,” she said.
Board member Christopher Aveta said that he was also concerned with truncating the 120-day notice period, but a conversation with board Attorney Christopher Parton allayed his concerns.
“If you’re looking to move on after 60 days, I don’t want to hold you back from pursuing whatever endeavor it is you’d like to pursue, whether it’s retirement or doing whatever,” he said.
According to the district budget for 2010-11, Bilbao’s contract would have expired on June 30, 2011.
In an interview prior to the meeting, Bilbao said that she had already been considering retirement before Gov. Chris Christie initiated pension and salary reforms for public employees and proposed a salary cap of $175,000 for district superintendents.
The 2010-11 district budget lists Bilbao’s annual base salary as $189,172.
“It had some influence,” she said, “but I wouldn’t say that was the deciding factor.”
Board Vice President Daniel Skelton said that he greatly enjoyed working with Bilbao and that he thought her departure was a tremendous loss for the district.
“It was a wonderful experience for me to be part of a team working for you as a leader.
“I have found you over and over again having the courage to make the appropriate decisions and recommendations to this board,” he said.
Board member Vincent Brand praised Bilbao’s consistent hard work for the district.
“I think it is in everyone’s best interest that, if you want to leave, to allow you to do that earlier than the contract states,” he said.
Board President Michael Donlon praised many of the programs Bilbao initiated and implemented.
He mentioned the high school redesign, the freshman academy, including all students in a general education setting, and allday kindergarten, among others.
Bilbao thanked the board and the community for the privilege of serving as superintendent.
“I enjoyed it immensely, every minute of it, even the board meetings,” she said.
In an interview prior to the meeting, Bilbao said that she had no plans beyond retiring at the moment.
“At this point, I’m retiring. Once I do that, then I will make decisions as to what I’m doing from there,” she said.
“I think, especially for a superintendent’s position, once you make a decision to go, you should go.
“It’s important that people respect your authority. Once they know you’re leaving, that authority diminishes,” she said.
Bilbao spoke highly of her time as superintendent of the district.
“I had a wonderful five years as superintendent here. I loved going to work every day. I have absolutely no regrets.
“It was a privilege to serve the community, and I’m just ready to move on, that’s all,” she said.
“There was a point at which I was thinking of retiring at age 52, but that was before I came to Middletown,” she said.
“I really did stay a lot longer than I expected to, because I really enjoyed my work here.”