CHICOPEE – After serving the Chicopee Public Schools as superintendent for a decade and a half, Richard W. Rege Jr. will retire halfway through the 2019-2020 school year.

The superintendent’s retirement was first announced publicly during the Chicopee School Committee meeting on Aug. 14, where the committee formally accepted his retirement. Rege’s retirement will go into effect on Jan. 31, 2020.

Rege first began his education career in Chicopee as a teacher in 1974 and taught for six years until 1980. That year he left education  as he and his wife were expecting their first child, and there was a chance they’d be laid off each year.

Needing something a little more stable, he left education and went into private business for 14 years. However, Rege wasn’t done with his educational career and went back into teaching at the Bellamy Middle School in 1993. From there, he progressed to the vice principal of Bellamy after three years of teaching.

After four years as vice principal, Rege moved up once again to principal of Fairview Elementary School. Finally, after a number of years as principal he became the superintendent, where he has served for 15 years.

Rege said while he still loves his job, he thinks it’s time. He told Reminder Publishing, “The timing seems good, the district in a place with the budget, there’s a lot of good things going on in the buildings.” He said. “You always want to leave things in a good place for your successor. I could never have done this a year ago when we were in turmoil.”

He also said he chose to retire at the end of January for a few reasons. One of those reasons was that he wanted to get the district through the opening of the school year. Another reason he said was simply because his anniversary date is in December and he will max out his retirement then.

“It should be a very smooth transition, I gave the committee plenty of notice,” he said.

School Committee members and Chicopee City Council President John Vieau expressed gratitude for Rege’s work in the district throughout the years during the Aug. 14 meeting.  

“I just wanted to take a moment to thank Superintendent Rege for all your service to the city of Chicopee. Your dedication and everything that you’ve done as an advocate and everything that you have accomplished over the years,” said Vieau. “I’m very excited that I’ve had the opportunity over the years to work with you. And I wish you success and I wish you the best in your retirement. Congratulations to you and thank you for all you’ve done for the city of Chicopee and the school system.”

School Committee Member, James Tanhauser said, “Selfishly I wish I could say no to this. But thank you for all your help, all your advice, and your leadership these past two years. Myself and David, being the new members here, you made it clear you were a leader we could trust and rely on and go to with just about anything.”

Rege, in return, expressed his appreciation for the committee and others he’s worked with throughout his career in the Chicopee educational system.

“I’ve always felt I had your support for things that I wanted to do; it made coming to work every day a joy for me, and it allowed me to hire many of the people that you see out there tonight. I’ve been blessed with whether it was my acumen or whether it was pure happenstance I wound up hiring very, very good people,” he said.  “Many of whom were smarter than I was and were willing to give me advice and keep me out of trouble. You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and I’ve been blessed. So thank you so much for everything you’ve given me as well, I appreciate it.”

Rege said he hopes to get back into reading during his retirement, get a gym membership, and spend time with his family, including his five grandchildren. “I think there’ll be plenty to keep me busy,” he told Reminder Publishing.

He did say, however, that his retirement would be bittersweet. “I’m a people person, I hired all those people,” he said. “It’s going to be hard leaving all the people.”

Those people, he said, are what he will miss the most about his job. “The people I hired, the people I worked with for 15 years, the teachers, the parents. I’ve enjoyed meeting and talking to them over the years,” Rege said. “They’re all committed and dedicated. They’re really the ones who made the Chicopee School District what it is.”

While there was discussion during the meeting as to how the district will proceed, there has been no decision as to who will fill Rege’s role at the end of January. However, at press time, the Chicopee School Committee planned to hold a special meeting on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. to interview and discuss the possibility of Lynn Clark, current assistant superintendent for Instruction and Accountability, filling the role of superintendent.

Look for coverage of the special meeting in next week’s edition of the Chicopee Herald.