A woke school superintendent in a ritzy part of Connecticut has resigned just days after agreeing to a new $225,000 contract — with parents blaming him for “alienating” them with his “strong liberal ideologies,” according to a report.
Rydell Harrison announced his resignation from the district covering Easton and Redding in a letter Friday blaming “a number of unique challenges” that led him to question if the job was “a good fit for me.”
It came less than two weeks after he agreed to a new contract to stay for another two years, with an annual salary of $225,000 plus generous benefits, the Connecticut Post said.
He had been in the role just 10 months — but already faced calls for his resignation for a series of divisive statements and school policies, the outlet noted.
In January, he sparked uproar with a Facebook post after the Capitol siege which many took as an attack on anyone supporting then-President Donald Trump.
“Please search your soul and ask if your words, your silence, actions or inactions helped in any way pave the way for Confederate flags to be waved in our nation’s capitol,” his post read, according to a News-Times report at the time.
“You are a co-conspirator who has sided with domestic terrorism,” he said of those who shared Trump’s beliefs.
As Harrison faced calls to resign, one resident, Roy Barker, asked him during a meeting, “Please explain how labeling people you disagree with is doing better for our children?”
Harrison sparked further outrage when he introduced a recently approved diversity, equity and inclusion survey for students, parents and staff.
“I think surveying our 11-year-old students about gender identification and sexual orientation crosses the line, crosses it hard,” a district member who voted against it, Mike Hoffman, told the News-Times earlier this month.
While Harrison did not elaborate on the specific “unique challenges” that led to his resignation, it left many parents unsurprised that he would go.
“He should have kept his personal politics and strong liberal ideologies to himself,” Sandy Welsh wrote in one Connecticut Facebook group discussing the resignation, saying he “alienated half of the families” with his anti-Trump tirade.
“But he can’t. He is much smarter than we are and ever so woke,” David Voorhees replied to Welsh’s comment.
“Good riddance. Now we need a Superintendent and a Board that respect EDUCATION not INDOCTRINATION,” Voorhees wrote. Others, however, insisted it was a “huge loss” to no longer have the “great leader” who was a “gem.”
For many, Harrison was known for his “Snow Day Song,” a reworking of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” that landed him some viral infamy as well as an appearance on “Good Morning America.”
“Rather than continuing forward as the superintendent, I have decided to pursue opportunities outside of a traditional K-12 setting that will allow me to fully engage my passion for education and commitment to improving outcomes for all students without the heavy burdens of district administration,” Harrison said in his statement, without elaborating.
The district will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss his replacement, the Connecticut Post said.