By Avice Meehan

Kevin D. Case applied for the role of school superintendent in Norfolk on April 7—just days after the Board of Education posted the vacancy created by the retirement of Mary Beth Iacobelli. “To be honest, I had my eye on this position for a while,” he said.

A veteran educator and administrator, Case had stepped down as superintendent of the bustling Canton public school district in 2023 after 17 years. Since then, he’s developed a consulting practice (science of reading and leadership skills) and served in several interim roles, most recently at The Master’s School in West Simsbury, a private nondenominational Christian school.

“We had a very strong candidate pool,” said Virginia Coleman-Prisco, chair of the Board of Education, describing the three finalists as “excellent,” each having the skills and professionalism the board sought. “Kevin stood out. He really knows our community.”

Case’s connections to Norfolk are both personal and professional. All run deep. His sister, Debbie Case Green, has raised her family in Norfolk and served for a time as the nurse at Botelle Elementary School. While living in Barkhamsted, Case served on that town’s board of education and on the board of Northwestern Regional School District 7. For a time in the 1990s, he also helped supervise Judith Condon, who served both towns as school superintendent. Case now lives in Canton, but his three children (Crytstall, Alex and Anthony) attended Barkhamsted Elementary School and graduated from Northwestern Regional High School.

Case described listening as his first priority in the new role. “I need to spend my time talking to different people. I want to see where people are and what their views are before I determine next steps,” he said during a June 18 interview over Zoom. “I want to market the Botelle School in the best way possible, including to parents who might not send their students to Botelle. We do need our enrollment to increase.”

The incoming administrator acknowledged the longstanding concerns with Botelle’s enrollment, as well as the faltering efforts to restart conversations with the neighboring Town of Colebrook. Case said he strove for efficiencies in Canton, where the town and school district began sharing a financial office. Canton also shared food service personnel with two other districts. At the same time, he stressed the need for a deeper understanding of all the issues “before I can facilitate a conversation about what’s next.”

But Case is fully on the record opposing regionalization when required by state law, as advocated by Gov. Ned Lamont and members of the legislature during the 2019 session of the General Assembly. The proposals, which were eventually watered down in the face of fierce public opposition, would have mandated a host of changes—among them, consolidation of districts with fewer than 2,000 students or three schools. At the time, Canton had an enrollment of 1,500 students.

Case began his career as an elementary school teacher in Burlington, Harwinton and Warren after graduating in 1985 from Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. In 1996, he became co-principal of Squadron Line Elementary School in Simsbury, making a detour to become principal at Torringford Elementary School in Torrington and returning to Squadron Line as the supervising principal in 2000. Case was named superintendent of Canton Public Schools in 2006, overseeing a budget of more than $29 million and four schools.

While serving in Canton, Case mentored Botelle Principal Lauren Valentino when she pursued a qualification as a school superintendent. “I am looking forward to working with Lauren. She is the instructional leader of the school, and I want to make sure she has the resources she needs,” Case said. He noted that he and Valentino have complementary leadership styles that will benefit teachers, students and the broader community. Although Case has not observed classrooms at Botelle—he did meet with staff and teachers on June 12—he said multi-age classrooms can provide an excellent opportunity for building on student strengths.

The Norfolk position is part-time, and Case said he would be spending Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Botelle, recognizing that the responsibilities extend beyond the allotted 20 hours a week. He plans to continue his work as an executive coach with the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, as well as a separate consultancy as a John Maxwell Leadership Coach.

Case said he looks forward to getting to know Botelle’s students and their families when the school year begins. Although he has broad experience—which includes sitting on different sides of the negotiating table to hash out complex issues—Case describes himself as a teacher at heart.

“The best way to engage our students used to be focusing on the teacher,” he said. “Now we are looking to see whether the students are engaged. [We] ask every student, even at the kindergarten level, ‘What are you working on?” If they can think about how it relates to everyday life, Case said he knows the teacher is doing a good job.