ENFIELD, CT — After a 20-year career with Enfield Public Schools, including the last seven as superintendent, Chris Drezek will soon be departing for a similar position in Old Saybrook.
Drezek was unanimously appointed by the Old Saybrook Board of Education at a meeting Wednesday. He will officially begin work in his new town on May 21.
“Mr. Drezek is an accomplished educational leader who creates innovative educational opportunities for students and fosters strong community partnerships,” superintendent search committee chair Karen Brodeur said in a written statement. “He is warm, engaging, and maintains a high standard of ethics and integrity. He has extensive experience in all facets of the work of a superintendent, and his leadership is student-centered.”
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Drezek was “consistently the top candidate” among 32 applicants for the post, according to Brodeur.
Drezek came to Enfield in 2004 as business manager, serving in that role until 2009. After a year in Wethersfield, he returned to Enfield in 2010 as director of human resources. He was named deputy superintendent in 2012, and was promoted to superintendent in 2017.
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“Enfield has been my home for 20 years,” he told Patch. “It is the only place my kids have known that I work. It’s been an absolute privilege to be the superintendent the past seven years.”
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Drezek will officially submit his letter of resignation to Board of Education chair Charlotte Riley at a special meeting Thursday.
“Charlotte is amazing; it was very hard having to tell her,” he said.
Riley told Patch, “During his time here, he has done some great things and has always been an advocate for the school district at the state level. Just yesterday I was with him at the Capitol and he stood and spoke to a room full of senators, state reps and his peers and went all in for Enfield to advocate for our budget and our students. Being Enfield’s superintendent is not a 9-5 type of job, rather a 24/7 one, and he has always made himself available, to be there when a crisis arises at 3 a.m. or when a last-minute meeting needs to be scheduled, or to leave in an instant to take care of an issue in a school. He will be missed by many, myself included, but I wish him the very best in his new position when it is time to go. The next few months will be a time of transition and change, but I am confident that Enfield Public Schools will move forward without barely skipping a beat because of the dedicated staff we have.”
Drezek guided the school system through some difficult periods, most prominently the global coronavirus pandemic that altered the course of education for nearly three years beginning in 2020.
He said with their children growing and leaving, he and his wife have begun planning to downsize.
“This is 100 percent a family decision,” he told Patch. “I gave everybody in my family a vote, and I never got to cast mine because it was unanimous.”
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