Published:
Reposted from the New Britain Herald; April 19, 2022
By Jeniece Roman
The Board of Education appointed Dr. Tony Gasper as the next Superintendent of Schools following a vote by the school board on Monday night in a special meeting.
The Consolidated School District of New Britain (CSDNB) announced that Gasper will officially start July 1. BOE Chair Gayle Sanders-Connolly said the Superintendent Search Committee chose Gasper because he was the best fit of the candidates to serve the New Britain school community.
The CSDNB said Gasper was chosen from a pool of applicants, which included superintendents and central office personnel, from four states. Cooperative Educational Services (CES), Trumbull-based consultants, facilitated the search and assisted the district’s search committee through the decision-making process. CES then provided the search committee with a leadership profile based on feedback from the community. Candidates were assessed and selected based on their supervisory skills, qualities, and attributes against the established profile.
"After an in-depth search for a candidate who best matches the identified educational priorities of our community, the Board is excited to welcome Dr. Gasper to our community to serve as Superintendent of Schools,” Sanders-Connolly said. “We look forward to working collaboratively with Tony to keep pressing forward on critical district issues."
Prior to his appointment as New Britain superintendent, Gasper was the superintendent of the Wolcott School District where he has been since 2015, working to improve student outcomes, narrow achievement gaps, and grow community partnerships. He is fluent in Spanish, has experience as a consultant with the Connecticut State Department of Education and has spent most of his 26 years in public education working in Connecticut’s urban school districts. Gasper served as an assistant superintendent in Windham and Ansonia, an assistant principal at East Hampton High School, and program director and World Language coordinator in Manchester. His educational career began when he taught high school Spanish.
“I strongly believe that New Britain is primed for a citywide renaissance and I am excited to play a part in the city’s continued growth,” Gasper said. “I am deeply thankful to the Board of Education for entrusting me with the city’s most precious resource: the students and staff members of our schools.”
Gasper grew up in East Hartford, which he said makes him familiar with the spirit and characteristics of a city like New Britain with its proud, working-class history. He attended Central Connecticut State University (Central), where he earned a bachelor’s in Spanish Education. Gasper also has a masters in Educational Leadership, a doctorate in Educational Leadership, and completed the Superintendent of Schools Preparation program at Central. Gasper said he looks forward to forming partnerships with Central, local clergy, neighborhood organizations, and the business community.
“I look forward to joining with the dedicated educators and support staff of the school district as we continue to move forward serving all of New Britain’s children,” Gasper said.
Gasper will begin as superintendent July 1 after Nancy Sarra, who has led the district since 2016, retires at the end of June. Gasper told the school board Wednesday that he has been learning more about the city throughout the interview process and is currently learning his way around and all about the schools.
“It truly feels like sort of a homecoming for me,” Gasper said. “I grew up in East Hartford and worked in many of Connecticut’s alliance districts. It really does feel like a place that I can hopefully call home, my professional home at least, for quite a long time.”