PETERBOROUGH — It is with mixed emotions that ConVal School Board Chair Dick Dunning reports to the school community that Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders intends to depart the district on Aug. 22, 2024.
Superintendent Rizzo Saunders has accepted a position with a school district in Pennsylvania and she will be relocating with her family in the coming months.
“The Contoocook Valley School District and its nearly 2,000 students have benefitted in a multitude of ways from the outstanding leadership and organization of Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders. She is a true force, supporting opportunities for our students, faculty and staff both inside the classroom and outside,” Chair Dunning said. “She will be a difficult leader to replace, and I join the members of the School Board in thanking her for her service to our school community.”
Under Superintendent Rizzo Saunders’ leadership, the district rolled out numerous programs aimed at modernizing the educational product at ConVal and improving access to education for all families. The district began the Preschool for All program to ensure access to high-quality early education services for the district’s 3- and 4-year-olds. During her tenure, ConVal also began the 1:1 Chromebook program. The district also weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures, remote learning and return to school under her watch.
In November 2023, ConVal, serving as lead plaintiff with 17 other school districts, prevailed in a lawsuit against the State of New Hampshire after Superior Court Judge David Ruoff ruled that the state shortchanges students through an inadequate funding formula.
“The state is responsible to its children, and to the communities who have struggled with an unfair financial burden for more than a generation,” Rizzo Saunders said on the day of the ruling.
In part due to this effort, Dunning and 18 other school administrators throughout New Hampshire successfully nominated Rizzo Saunders for New Hampshire Superintendent of the Year for 2024. She was also named one of four finalists late last year for National Superintendent of the Year by AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
“ConVal is a unique and special community, and I have enjoyed working with a generation of teachers, administrators, and of course, our students over these past 15 years,” Rizzo Saunders said. “I am truly grateful for the experiences and challenges of working in this district and for the tremendous gift of working alongside so many dedicated and truly selfless educators.”
Rizzo Saunders has been with ConVal since 2009 when she joined as assistant superintendent. She was named superintendent in 2016.
The ConVal district, SAU 1, serves Antrim, Bennington, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Sharon and Temple.