Our View: Springfield schools superintendent’s resignation was needed. What happens next matters more.

On Monday night, Springfield Public Schools superintendent Todd Hamilton did the best thing he could do as the leader of the embattled school district.

He resigned.

Or, more specifically, the school board voted to “negotiate and execute a resignation agreement with the superintendent,” during a board meeting Hamilton didn’t attend. No public comments were made by the board other than to vote 4-0 in favor of moving forward with the resignation agreement.

There are plenty of critical questions about leadership at the district that we don’t know the answers to, because Springfield Public Schools officials aren’t talking:

• When does Hamilton’s resignation take effect?
• Who will lead Springfield Public Schools when he leaves?
• Does the school board plan to launch a search for a new superintendent?
• What impact does Hamilton’s resignation have on the lawsuit he and assistant superintendent David Collins have threatened to file against the district and several board members?

Amid the drumbeat of controversies engulfing the district, from the ongoing state investigation into its elementary curriculum, to the mid-school-year cut of 27 teaching and administrative positions, to the threatened lawsuit against the district and the resignation of board chair Heather Quaas-Annsa, there has been one consistent theme: Hamilton’s tendency to blame others for missteps rather than take responsibility.

We’re not saying that every single issue besetting the district is his fault. But when administrators put more energy into investigating board members than budgeting for teacher raises, when every school board member faces either a threatened lawsuit or potential recall (or both, in board member Ken Kohl’s case), and when a board member resigns from an unpaid, volunteer position due to harassment, a failure of leadership at the highest level must be acknowledged.

We wrote last month that Springfield parents deserved more than they were getting from district leaders about their concerns for the quality of their kids’ education. Now, we’ll take the news of Hamilton’s resignation as acknowledgement that the district gets the message.

The most important thing for Springfield Public Schools is what happens next. The four current school board members formally declared Quaas-Annsa’s seat vacant Monday night, and are starting the process of finding a new board member. The district hopes to have a replacement seated by April 13.

Presumably, the board will be starting to look for a new superintendent as well. While the district is keeping tight-lipped about the timing of Hamilton’s departure and plans for the day after, Springfield Public Schools desperately needs a stabilizing voice at the top.

The district faces real challenges. Some of them, like declining enrollment, are hitting school districts across the state. But there have been too many problems unique to Springfield lately, and not enough attention on the 8,900 students who go to its schools, or the hundreds of teachers and support staff doing good work despite the distractions. 

A brighter future for the district lies beyond this mess. Despite everything on its plate right now, the sooner the board starts the process of searching for a new superintendent, the sooner it will move past these ugly headlines.