Waterbury Public Schools is a school district based in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States.
The district serves over 18,000 students. Waterbury is notable as the first school district in Connecticut to establish a dress code for all students. Waterbury Public Schools operates under the leadership of a superintendent and a board of education that consists of 10 elected members and the city mayor. The superintendent's position is currently vacant.[2]
Waterbury's 1,500 teachers work in 30 schools and educational programs. They belong to the Waterbury Teachers' Association.
History
Waterbury's first public high school opened in 1851.[3]
On July 1, 2018, Dr. Verna D. Ruffin began her first term as superintendent, chosen by the board of education and Mayor Neil O'Leary, due to her experience with urban school districts.[4]
In June and July 2022, the United States Department of Justice began an investigation in the district due to possible mistreatment of special education students, "including seclusion rooms and restraints," according to News 8 WTNH.[5]
On July 8, 2024, Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. terminated Ruffin's contract against the wishes of the board of education, citing a lack of confidence from staff and parents within the district, poor behavior from students, low test scores, and the fact that Ruffin had never notified him nor the previous mayor of the Department of Justice investigations.[5][2]
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District Reference Group I
Waterbury is one of the seven public school systems in District Reference Group I, a classification made by the state Department of Education for the purpose of comparison with the achievement levels of similar schools. District reference groups are defined as "districts whose students' families are similar in education, income, occupation and need, and that have roughly similar enrollment".[6] The other six school districts in the group are Bridgeport, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, and Windham.[7]
^[2] state "Strategic School Profile 2005-2006" for Wilton High School, accessed March 25, 2007
^"WCGMF-Discovery | Communities: By DRG". Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved March 6, 2007. Web page titled "Find a Community: By Educational Reference Group (DRG)" at the "Discovery 2007 / An initiative of the William Caspar Graustein Fund" Web site, accessed March 25, 2007
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