Pittsfield Superintendent Bids Farewell to District After 32 Years
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Superintendent Joseph Curtis bid farewell to the School Committee on Wednesday, as he enters retirement on Monday.
He shared a heartfelt summary of the 32 years spent in the Pittsfield Public Schools, with roles ranging from teacher to leading the district.
But before Curtis said his goodbyes, he thanked the City Council for moving forward with the proposed rebuild of John C. Crosby Elementary School.
The night before, the council passed a $2 million borrowing for a feasibility study on the proposed rebuild of Silvio O. Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities. Councilors approved it with no discussion.
"As you well know, I began my career at Conte Community School, and to end my career with the possibility that the children on the West Side of our city will have an outstanding new school facility that will also serve as a model for our city is quite an honor," he said.
"… Certainly in times of what could be fiscal issues down the road, it would be easy to vote to not pass this, but the City Council did with the mayor's leadership and encouragement, so I'm very grateful and I look forward to seeing that school hopefully open in 2028 or 2029."
Mayor Peter Marchetti was one of many to thank Curtis for his leadership, saying, "I want to thank you for, not only as superintendent, but the years of service that you did with the School Building Needs Commission, the rebuilding of the new to Taconic campus, and hopefully in the future building a new Crosby."
Chair William Cameron stressed that the district has benefited "greatly" from Curtis' three decades of service and said his skills and dedication will not be easily replaced.
"Particularly as superintendent, he's taken on major educational projects to promote excellence in the classroom and to improve our schools' environments for learning. It will now be up to others to see these projects through the completion," he said.
"Joe has made himself available to the public in ways no other superintendent of my acquaintance has ever done. He has been as selfless a superintendent as I have known in 47 years in public education. He is also a thoughtful and decent man who, since 2020, has seen the Pittsfield Public Schools through monumental crises."
Vice Chair Daniel Elias acknowledged Curtis's growth and continued dedication throughout his tenure.
"You work really hard, and I think you expected everyone around you to work as equally as hard, and I think at times, you didn't come across well, and I think you learned from that, you grew from that, and there was a transformation," he said.
"And I think people that were critical of you at first saw that transformation, because they were in that arena waiting, and they were pleased to see that had been taking place, but there were others who were against you from day one, who never gave you a shot. And again, it's bigger than any one individual. It's about the health of the city, and I think from day one, there was just never really a decent shot. I wish that for your 32 years, there was a better fate, and I always believe it's a sum of a person's life. So, thank you for those 32 years."
Committee member Sara Hathaway recognized, "I know he doesn't want us to go on and on," and shared testimony from one of his former fifth-grade students, who said he was "by far one of the best and one of my favorites" and went above and beyond for his students.
Fellow committee member William Garrity said, "education is a hard job, and I applaud you for all the work you do."
The superintendent announced in February that he would step down at the end of the school year. Just months before, Pittsfield High School had become embroiled in a staffing scandal with allegations of misconduct and the arrest of one administrator on drug trafficking charges.
Latifah Phillips, formerly the chief equity and engagement officer for the Lowell Public Schools, has been tapped as the interim superintendent for one year.
Curtis said most people are surprised to learn that he never intended to spend this much time in the Pittsfield district.
"When I first applied to PPS, I was a 21-year-old recent graduate of Springfield College. Fresh out of school and simply looking for an opportunity to teach, for a year, I made the long commute between Springfield and Pittsfield, unsure of what the future would hold," he said.
"Eventually, two of my college friends who happened to be living in Pittsfield invited me to move in, and I took the leap. In those early years, I built a circle of new friends and acquaintances. Over time, nearly all of them moved away, except two. Each time someone left Pittsfield, they urged me to consider leaving too, to try somewhere new, but something about this place held on to me. I found a community I cared about, work that mattered, and a city that very quietly grew on me. Throughout the years, other opportunities came when chances to relocate, to take different paths, but I always chose to stay."
He eventually bought a home here, grew his career, and through every transition, he stayed.
"Over the years, I often heard people speak about how many children in Pittsfield were in need. How many lacked stable, supportive homes. Those conversations stayed with me, and I began to feel a deep sense of responsibility to do more," he said.
"That sense of purpose led me to take classes to become a foster parent. What began as a step-by-step to help others quickly became something far more personal and profound. Eventually, my foster sons became my sons. As our family grew, the home I had once cherished began to feel too small for the life we were building together."
When it was time for his family to find a new home, he said "many" people advised him to look outside of Pittsfield, but "for me, it was never really a question."
"I believed then, as I still do, that if you serve a community, you should live it," Curtis said.
"You should know its streets, its schools, its families, not just from behind a desk, but as a neighbor, a parent, and a member of that very same community. So once again, I chose to stay here in Pittsfield."
He stepped in as interim superintendent during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was bumped to superintendent in 2021. When Jason "Jake" McCandless announced his departure, he had "no plans" to try for interim superintendent, "but Pittsfield had given me so much, personally and professionally, and as a parent, I felt a deep sense of responsibility to give back in a time of crisis."
He added that "even when two city councilors publicly declared that my appointment as superintendent had failed the city," and when his legal counsel advised him to serve for one year and move on, he chose to stay.
At the time of his appointment, former School Committee member Dennis Powell, the only supporter of Portia Bonner, a Connecticut administrator, publicly resigned from the committee in protest after the vote.
Curtis reported that he offered to not take the post, but former Mayor Linda Tyer said, "absolutely not. You're the right person," and honored that trust.
"I stayed not because it was easy, but because I believe in the work, and the people, and the promise of this district," he said.
"Despite my loyalty and commitment, some have suggested my tenure as superintendent merely continued long-standing practices or upheld the status quo. Nothing could be further from the truth."
He pointed out some of the issues tackled during his tenure, including initiating some of the most significant changes in decades — the establishment of a clear and unified mission, vision, and core values, a complete reauthorization of the code of conduct, character and support, a comprehensive strategic plan, the restructuring proposal, and the Crosby/Conte school project proposal.
That same night, the School Committee made a historic vote to create an upper elementary school for Grades 5-6 and a junior high school for Grades 7-8 by the 2026-2027 academic year. A stipulation was added that if goals in the Middle School Restructuring Committee's timeline are not met by the December meeting, it will be delayed one year.
"For the first time in over 50 years, I initiated the process to bring a new elementary school to the west side of Pittsfield, a long overdue investment in the community that has waited, waited far too long for equitable, modern educational facilities," Curtis said.
"This was my work coming full circle, replacing the school I began [at] with a new facility to better serve the students of the West Side. These are not examples of maintaining traditions. They are steps forward, each rooted in the belief that Pittsfield students deserve the very best."
Reflecting on spending his entire professional career in Pittsfield, he has no regrets.
"I stayed because I believed in the people here. I stayed because I saw the potential in children, the strength in the families, and the resilience of our educators. I stayed because I wanted to be part of something real, not always easy, certainly not always perfect, but deeply meaningful. And in staying here, I've been given far more than I ever expected," he said.
"I fully recognize that I am not universally popular, and if I've accepted that reality since my early days of my career, dating back to 1994. From the beginning, I've operated with a clear guiding principle: If your focus is on championing the needs of the children we serve, then we are aligned. If your priority is yourself over students, then we are not. And I've never wavered on that distinction. I understand that taking such a clear and uncompromising stance hasn't always made me well-liked, and I'm at complete peace with that. Leadership, especially in education, often requires making difficult decisions that won't please everyone, but those who truly know me, who understand my values and my purpose, respect me for standing firm in what I believe."
He said he chose this path because he "deeply" believed in the power of education to change lives, as it did for him from day one.
Tags: Pittsfield Public Schools, retirement, superintendent,
