NORTHAMPTON — Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Superintendent Jeffrey R. Peterson has resigned after four years to take a new job at William J. Dean Technical High School in Holyoke.
Peterson will start Friday as the principal director at Dean Tech and earn an annual salary of $122,500.
“It is an opportunity to turn around a school that is struggling. It’s a challenge that I couldn’t turn down,” Peterson said Wednesday. “The experience I got at Smith was valuable for me. It’s a big job, and I will take that experience with me.”
Peterson was hired as the Smith Vocational superintendent in June 2012, succeeding Arthur Apostolou, who retired. Peterson earned an annual salary of $114,660 in the current fiscal year, which ends Thursday.
Trustees said they were surprised when Peterson announced his resignation at a board meeting June 21.
“He was a very nice gentleman, he did a nice job,” said trustees Chairman Michael T. Cahillane. “I was a little taken aback, but everyone has a career to pursue and that’s what he is doing.”
Trustee John Cotton said he was surprised by Peterson’s resignation, adding that he brought success to the school.
“I was kind of shocked,” Cotton said. “But everybody has to do what they feel is right for them, and I respect that. He did a good job.”
Cotton cited Peterson’s building new athletic programs and increasing the freshman enrollment rate.
For the first time in its more than century-long history, Smith Vocational launched a football team in fall 2013. Peterson coached the 45-member Vikings squad in its first year.
Peterson has been involved this year with drafting a controversial land-use plan required to renew the city’s lease on the 282-acre Smith Farm Fields property off Burts Pit Road, popularly referred to as the “dog park.”
For years, people have used it for activities not permitted under the state law governing the land, including dog walking.
Peterson told the Gazette in May the state rejected a land-use plan submitted by the school in October that would have allowed for passive recreation including off-leash dog walking. The state asked the trustees to draft a plan with more structure that was focused on the educational mission of the school.
Under the new plan recommended by the trustees in May, off-leash dog walking would be banned on the property if approved by the state. That was met with some criticism by users of the dog park.
According to Cahillane, Peterson’s resignation is “absolutely not” related to the dog-park controversy.
Peterson will replace current Dean Tech Principal Barry Bacom, who recently resigned, according to Holyoke School Committee member Erin Brunelle. Bacom was hired in July 2013, according to the school’s website.
Before becoming the Smith Vocational chief, Peterson served as assistant principal at Chicopee Comprehensive High School for 11 years.
According to Cahillane, Smith Vocational hopes to appoint an interim superintendent in the next two to three weeks.
The school is advertising for the interim superintendent on major websites such as SchoolSpring.com, Cahillane said.
On the SchoolSpring job-search site, the advertisement states that Smith Vocational is seeking candidates with experience in administration and, ideally, in career and technical education. Applications for interim superintendent are due by 3 p.m. Thursday, addressed to Cahillane at the school office, 80 Locust St. in Northampton.
Cahillane said he does not know when a new permanent superintendent will be hired but it will not be by the start of the school year in August.