Details behind former Rockville Centre Superintendent June Chang's departure revealed

According to documents recently obtained by the Herald, former Rockville Centre Superintendent of Schools June Chang received three months’ salary and compensation for 24 vacation days in his separation agreement with the Board of Education, and agreed not to pursue any legal action against the district.

Chang an-nounced his resignation to the school board in a letter in August, just over a year into his tenure. According to his original contract and the separation agreement, both acquired by the Herald through the Freedom of Information Law, Chang’s original contract, signed on Feb. 25, 2020, was for five years, from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2025. For his first year, from July 2020 to June 2021, he was paid $290,000.

Chang signed the separation agreement on Oct. 6, and was put on paid sick leave until the split became official on Nov. 19.

Robert Bartels, who has been the district’s assistant superintendent for business and personnel for two decades, will serve as acting superintendent for the rest of the school year as the board searches for Chang’s permanent successor.

“I think it’s for the betterment of the district to go forward with Mr. Bartels,” board President John O’Shea said in October. “We’re disappointed in the whole process that [Chang] decided to resign after one year, and it just seemed to work better for everyone involved if he were to leave earlier instead of stay until May. … We all wish Mr. Chang good luck in his future endeavors, and we are very confident that Mr. Bartels will be a strong leader for the district until the time comes that we find a permanent superintendent.”

Bartels will be paid $45,000 in addition to his salary to finish the school year as acting superintendent. O’Shea said the goal was to remain within the $290,000 that was approved as the superintendent’s portion of the district budget.

When he took over, Bartels wrote in a letter that he hoped to bring unity to the district. “As the acting superintendent of schools, my main goal is to provide stability for all of the children and the staff during the Board of Education’s search for a new superintendent,” he wrote. “The Covid pandemic has provided some challenging obstacles over the past year and a half, and the district has met those challenges head on.”

While Chang did not publicly disclose his reasons for leaving, he faced much adversity after taking over for Dr. William Johnson, who had served as superintendent for 34 years before retiring in 2019. Chang had to navigate the district through the coronavirus pandemic in his first year on the job, and deal with the ongoing controversy over masking district students.

Additionally, in July, in the first of two much-discussed administrative actions that remain mysterious, the school board voted, 3-2, against Chang’s recommendation to rehire South Side High School girls’ varsity soccer coach Jennifer Abgarian — Newsday’s All-Long Island girls’ soccer Coach of the Year in 2020 — and her assistant, Chris Aloisi. Instead, the board voted to hire Jude Massillon to replace Abgarian, but Massillon resigned after just one week. In a letter to the board, Massillon, who is Black, said he had received numerous anonymous phone calls, many of which he described as “racially derogatory.” He was replaced by Judi Croutier, a district teacher and a former highly successful coach of the soccer team. Croutier led the girls’ squad to the county and Long Island championships this season before it lost in the state finals.

The school board has tasked the firm School Leadership LLC with helping district officials search for the next superintendent. The firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates brought Chang to the district. O’Shea said that while the next superintendent may also face many challenges, he hoped the experience with Chang taught district officials how to deal with adversity. O’Shea added that the board would update residents on the search at its monthly meetings.

Bartels, meanwhile, has already stirred controversy by announcing that vaccinated and non-vaccinated attendees at this month’s winter concerts will sit in separate sections of each school’s auditorium.

Chang could not be reached for comment, but in his letter to the school board in August, he noted that he had reached his decision after “much reflection.”

“We have overcome many obstacles together during the most challenging of times,” he wrote, “and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to have served the RVC schools community. However, after careful consideration with my family, I have decided to pursue other opportunities.”