The Board of Trustees for Albany County School District One have reached an agreement with Dr. Brian Recht, ending his employment as Superintendent of the District immediately. The agreement was reached during the regular Board of Trustees meeting last night.

Dr. Recht’s employment contract with the District had extended to October 23, 2016. The terms of the mutual separation agreement include payment of salary and benefits earned by Dr. Recht through February 11, 2015, a lump sum payment of $150,000 in lieu of any other salary, benefits, or compensation owed to him under his employment contract, and a mutual release by both parties of any claims.

The Board will immediately begin the search for an Interim Superintendent. Until an Interim Superintendent is hired, Mike Hamel has been appointed by the Board as Acting Superintendent. He will assume these duties in addition to his duties as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Quality Learning.

Hamel says he will work to make sure things in the District head in the right direction.

“We have a really strong administrative team. We have 3,700 students that come to school each day expecting to have great things happen for them, and so we need to make sure that things keep moving forward,” Hamel says. “We’ve got a strong instructional staff, and it just means that I get the opportunity to work with those folks to keep things moving in a positive direction for our students.”

Hamel said he could not speculate as to the motivation behind the agreement.

The mutual separation comes after the Board chose not to renew the contract for Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Perry during their last regular meeting on January 14, 2015.

According to Hamel, Dr. Recht was first hired as Superintendent in Albany County on October 23, 2003. Hamel says that everyone at the District is very thankful for the time Dr. Recht spent at Albany County District One.

“We are thankful for his years of service to the students and staff of Albany County District One,” says Hamel. “We wish him the very best.”

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