WESTBROOK – Kate Hersom, principal at Canal Elementary School, will be leaving her post for a new job as director of No Child Left Behind, a position reinstated after being cut from the school budget three years ago.

Superintendent Marc Gousse said the position will be a full-time, permanent position. He said the position was cut because of a $3.7 million shortfall in the school budget.

“When the shortfall happened we looked at how to navigate that with the least impact on children,” Gousse said. ‘The first areas we looked at were administrative positions. Was the position needed at that time? Absolutely. Is it needed now? Absolutely. It wasn’t a question if we needed position, from my lens.”

Hershom will start her new job when a replacement for her is found. The job has been posted.

Hersom will be in charge of finding professional development opportunities for teachers and managing title grants for students and the district. While Hersom won’t have the kind of direct contact she had with the children on a day-to-day basis that she had as principal, she will still get a chance to interact with students and teachers.

“I’ll miss my favorite part of the day, when I hold the door open to greet students in the morning,” Hersom said. “I learn who lost a tooth, whose mom had a baby – just those moments of joy as kids enter. They keep me filled up all day long. It’s hard to tell the students [I’m leaving]. Some students have been with me since pre-K. I’ve known them for five years.”

The new job will pay approximately $82,000, with $70,000 of her salary coming from Title 1 funds, and the remaining $12,000 will be paid by using salary savings realized through retirements and new hires.

Hersom has been an administrator for the Westbrook School Department for the past decade.