The end of an era came as a surprise in late March as Alan Beitman, superintendent of Region 10 schools, unexpectedly submitted his letter of resignation to the Board of Education.

All students and faculty were shocked as the young-spirited, 69-year-old authority figure decided to step down as superintendent of the roughly 2,800-student school district, citing medical reasons. His medical leave was slated to continue through graduation on June 14, and lead directly into his retirement. Originally Beitman had informed the board that he would retire in June of 2020, but it came to his attention that it is “time for [him] to care of [himself] and [his] family,” he said in an email. After 13 years of serving the Burlington and Harwinton communities, and almost 48 years as an educator in Connecticut, Beitman said it was time to move into retirement.

Bietman noted how much he will miss the students, their families, all community members, and the staff and administration of the schools.

Taking his place as Interim Superintendent of Schools will be former Interim Superintendent, Jeff Linton. Linton’s past experience with Region 10 dates back to his first administrative position as assistant principal at Lewis S. Mills, becoming assistant principal at Lake Garda, changing to interim principal at Harwinton Consolidated School, and finally as Interim Superintendent at LSM on two other occasions.

Aside from his work in Region 10, Linton has held the position of Director of Curriculum and Instruction in Region 10 for 13 years, and his last position consisted of being Superintendent of the Barkhamsted School District.