HARTFORD — After more than a year of uncertainty over district leadership, the School Board has chosen a permanent superintendent.

The board has decided to hire interim Superintendent Caty Sutton to the position permanently.

“We are thrilled to offer Caty this position and we feel that she is the most qualified candidate,” School Board Chairwoman Nancy Russell said in a recording of the meeting Wednesday where the board voted. “Her knowledge and experience with Hartford’s school district will provide some valuable insight into the existing and future challenges that we face as a community and we feel that she will continue to serve our students, school staff, administration and the community well.”

The School Board appointed Sutton, 47, previously Hartford’s director of secondary curriculum, instruction, and assessment, to the interim post in July after longtime Superintendent Tom DeBalsi, resigned abruptly last summer, a year before his contract expired.

Before joining the Hartford School District two years ago, Sutton served as a principal at Randolph Union Middle and High School.

Sutton planned on continuing with her curriculum work, but was happy to step up.

“It was an unexpected career trajectory to be in this role, but I pursued it because I really love this district,” Sutton said in a phone interview Thursday.

Sutton’s contract is still being negotiated, but the salary range for the position is between $150,000 and $170,000, plus a comprehensive benefits package, according to the job’s posting.

The selection of a permanent superintendent marks the end of a search first launched in January 2024, when the school district hired Omaha-based executive search firm McPherson and Jacobson.

The board said at the time it intended to hire a new superintendent a year early, keeping DeBalsi on the payroll. That decision prompted pushback from residents, school administrators and the teacher’s union. The search was ultimately tabled last March as budget challenges resulted in cuts to school spending.

Then, DeBalsi abruptly resigned on June 30, and the board later came under scrutiny when the terms of his severance package of nearly $250,000 became public.

McPherson and Jacobson resumed the search for a permanent superintendent this fall. A total of nine candidates, three men and six women from six different states, applied for the job, McPherson and Jacobson consultant John Gratto said.

A 13-member ad hoc search committee, including district staff, administrators, community members, students and parents, interviewed five candidates before recommending two finalists for the position.

The board selected Sutton over the other finalist, Jodie Stewart-Ruck, Mill River Unified School District’s assistant superintendent.

One challenge Sutton said she is ready to continue tackling is the dangerous levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, that were found in 28 rooms in the Hartford High School and career and technical center buildings during state-mandated testing last April.

PCBs are man-made chemicals found in older building materials such as caulk, paint and lighting fixtures. Their use was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1980. Exposure to PCBs can cause cancer and other serious health effects, according to the Vermont Department of Health.

In order to pay for the PCB abatement process, Hartford is among more than 90 Vermont schools suing Monsanto Corporation, the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs from the 1930s through the 1970s.

“We’re waiting for more information to truly understand the scope of our project work,” Sutton said.

The School Board is expecting an update on the PCB issue from Buildings and Grounds Director Jonathan Garthwaite, at its next meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 in the Best Room at Hartford Area Career and Technical Center.

Emma Roth-Wells can be reached at erothwells@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.