CLAREMONT — The SAU 6 superintendent has resigned amid the district’s financial crisis.
The SAU 6 School Board accepted Superintendent Chris Pratt’s resignation and agreed to pay him three months severance under a separation agreement signed Monday, Sept. 8 by Pratt and SAU 6 Chairwoman Arlene Hawkins, a Claremont School Board member.
Both Pratt and the board “agreed that an immediate leadership transition would be in the best interest of SAU 6 as the Claremont School District navigates its historic financial challenge,” the resignation agreement states.
The SAU board voted to accept the resignation at a meeting Thursday.
Pratt, who has been on administrative leave since Aug. 28, will receive $39,500 from the SAU, which also includes the Unity School District. The SAU also will pay its portion of Pratt’s health insurance for three months. Hawkins, who was traveling, could not recall Pratt’s salary.
The SAU placed Pratt, who had not attended any public meetings since Aug. 14, on administrative leave two weeks after it came to light that the Claremont School District had a severe cash flow problem that was jeopardizing the scheduled opening of the district’s schools.
SAU 6 Business Administrator Mary Henry also is on administrative leave.
While schools opened on time on Aug. 28, the district remains in a financial crisis and has a deficit estimated to be between $1 million and $5 million. More than $3 million in cuts have been made including eliminating 20 non-teacher positions, not hiring 19 new teachers and eliminating all extracurricular activities.
Matthew Angell, acting SAU 6 Business Administrator and comptroller who was hired last month, said at a Claremont School Board meeting on Wednesday he expects to have a deficit figure by Friday, Sept. 19.
Also Thursday, the SAU board appointed Claremont Middle School Principal Kerry Kennedy as interim superintendent. Human Resources Director Patrick O’Hearn had filled that role since Pratt was suspended. Kennedy was hired in June, a few months after resigning from the Central Elementary School in Bellows Falls, Vt.
The board has hired a consulting firm to support the SAU administrative team, provide communication for the district and help investigate how the Claremont district arrived in this situation and how it can ensure it does not happen again, Hawkins said in a Friday phone interview. TMS Consulting is not doing a criminal investigation nor a forensic audit, Hawkins said.
Leadership turmoil is not new in SAU 6.
The board named Pratt, who previously served as principal of Stevens High School, interim superintendent in January 2024. He replaced Mike Tempesta, who the board fired that month.
Tempesta, who earned about $143,000 a year, was given six months severance with benefits, according to his contract. He had been hired in July 2019 and given a five-year contract extension in 2021. Reasons for his dismissal were not revealed.
In March 2019, Keith Pfeifer resigned after being placed on leave. The board had hired him as interim superintendent in July 2018.
Assistant Superintendent Cory LeClair served as acting superintendent for about a month before Pfeifer arrived. She replaced Middleton McGoodwin.
In 2018, the SAU board fired Middleton McGoodwin, who was hired in 2011.
McGoodwin succeeded longtime Superintendent Jacqui Guillette, who was in Claremont for nine years.