Balazs departs as Amherst High principal; Podgorski returns
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Podgorski

Changes in administration continue in the Amherst Central School District with the departure of high school Principal JoAnn Balazs.

The Amherst Board of Education accepted Balazs' resignation on Aug. 27. Balazs, who has been principal since July 2005, is the new principal of the Harkness Career and Technical Center in Cheektowaga.

Retired Amherst High School Principal Joseph Podgorski has been appointed as substitute administrator at the high school for the 2007-08 school year until the district finds a replacement.

Superintendent Laura Chabe said Balazs informed the district in the second week of August that she was resigning.

"She has openly indicated that she has two very young children and that it was difficult for her to balance family life with school responsibilities," said Chabe. "She felt that her children were only young once and she wanted to have the opportunity to spend more time with them."

In Amherst High's "Tiger Tales" Back to School newsletter on the district's Web site, Balazs details her departure.

Balazs

"It is an opportunity that I simply cannot pass up," she said. "My new position will allow me to run a state-of-the-art high school program while also providing more evening time with my family. With my daughter starting kindergarten this September, it is the perfect time for me to make a career move in the best interests of my family."

Chabe said she hopes Balazs' replacement will be chosen by October.

Balazs becomes the latest administrator to leave the district. Superintendent Dennis Ford, Assistant Superintendent Paul Wietig, Smallwood Drive Elementary Principal Barbara Marotto and High School Dean of Students Jack Koch retired in June. This summer, middle school Assistant Principal Lee Pierce and Director of Special Education and Pupil Personnel Services Scott Payne took positions in other districts.

The board also appointed Victoria Pohlman to a three-year probationary period as assistant high school principal through Aug. 30, 2010, replacing Lee Brenner, who took over as Smallwood Drive principal. Pohlman was assistant principal at North Tonawanda High School.

The board also appointed Michael Belle-Isle, current school psychologist at Windermere Boulevard Elementary, to a three-year probationary period as director of special education and pupil personnel services through Aug. 26, 2010, replacing Payne. The district has yet to fill Belle-Isle's position.

Despite the quick turnover, Chabe is confident of the district's future.

"Although these changes have happened pretty quickly, I'm very confident that the people so far that we have hired will do an outstanding job," said Chabe. "We'll be ready to start the school year. It's going to go smoothly."