Morrissey: Sheffield resignation is an opportunity

Reached by telephone shortly after Rockford School Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield announced her resignation, Mayor Larry Morrissey said he wasn’t surprised by the news and called it an opportunity for the community to work together.

“The friction was developing over quite a long time,” Morrissey said of the climate at the city’s public school system. “We have an opportunity now to forge a new path. The elections Tuesday were a pretty clear indication that the new board members want to be open and transparent and reach out to community partners.”

Morrissey said it was evident to him and much of the community in recent months that the community and Sheffield were not working in concert.

“Because of the constant turnover we’ve had with superintendents, we have to make sure that our vision and our strategies for success in our school district are not dependent upon any individual superintendent,” Morrissey said. “They have to be shared and known by the community at large. … The facts are the facts. We’ve had constant turnover in superintendents for many years now, and we’ve had less than adequate results in our schools. … It’s not good enough.”

Morrissey said he’s already spoken to some of the city’s newly elected school board members and plans to speak with them and other board members in the weeks to come concerning the relationship between the city and the school board.

“I will be continuing to discuss with the new board when it comes in – what can we do to help and how we can form greater ties together and make sure we have a shared platform for success and ownership and responsibility and improvement,” he said. “They will be voting in a new board president soon. I want to make sure myself and our team is there to help in any way we possibly can.”