CABE presents leadership profile to Cromwell board, community prioritizes trust and communication

The Cromwell Board of Education on Wednesday received a leadership profile from CABE, the consultants leading the district's superintendent search, laying out survey and focus-group findings the board will use to screen candidates.

Mary, a CABE consultant, told the board the firm conducted nine focus groups and in-person interviews with 61 people and received 149 survey responses, for a corrected total participation of 210 after accounting for respondents who identified in multiple categories. "We conducted nine focus groups and spoke with 61 people in person," Mary said, adding the profile corrects a typographical error that previously listed total participants as 211.

The consultants summarized community-identified strengths as a dedicated and caring staff, strong staff collaboration and retention, personalized learning tied to small class sizes, and extensive extracurricular and curricular opportunities given Cromwell's size. At the same time, CABE highlighted recurring challenges including persistent budget pressures, concerns about how resources are aligned, staffing and paraeducator shortages, a rise in students with complex academic and behavioral needs, and uneven special-education services.

The research also surfaced recurring concerns about trust and leadership culture. "There's a significant divide between staff and administration," Mary said, reporting that constituents described communication as "inconsistent or top-down" and noted instances of fear of retaliation. Jack, a CABE consultant, said those relationship issues must be balanced with managerial competence: "You need someone that can provide greatness," he said, arguing that trust and authenticity must be coupled with the ability to manage budgeting, curriculum and personnel.

CABE presented ranked priorities from the survey. By a clear margin, respondents identified "building trusting relationships with students, staff and community" as the top area of expertise they want in a superintendent, followed by strong communication and collaboration. On desired personal qualities, the district favored an approachable, accessible and visible leader (about 29% named that their first choice), followed by trustworthy, honest and respectful (about 22%), and a leader who keeps student growth and well-being the primary focus (about 20%). "If the system is good, it's great," Jack said, emphasizing the need for a superintendent who both loves students and understands the complex operational demands of the role.

Board members asked procedural and data questions about next steps. Mrs. Lamb asked whether CABE would draft interview questions or whether the board would; Mary said CABE will provide a bank of sample questions at the search committee's next meeting and that the board will select and reword the questions it wants to use. A board member also requested disaggregated survey data (teacher-only, family-only, student-only responses); Mary said the team could provide raw survey data by respondent group and that focus-group feedback was already divided by group.

The meeting included one procedural action: the board approved the meeting agenda after a motion by Mrs. Lamb and a second by Mr. Zabrowski; no vote tally was recorded in the public transcript. The public portion of the meeting concluded at 8:37 p.m., after which CABE and the board remained briefly to discuss next steps.

What happens next: CABE will bring a bank of interview questions to the search committee's next meeting, and the leadership profile will be used to evaluate and select finalists for in-person interviews. The board did not take a formal personnel vote during this session.