PEMBROKE – Pino Buffone is the new Director of Education for the Renfrew County District School Board. He is scheduled to begin his term on February 21.
“The Board is excited to welcome Pino to the RCDSB family,” said RCDSB Chair Wendy Hewitt. “He has the experience and vision necessary to lead us into the future.”
Mr. Buffone is currently Superintendent of Instruction with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. He is responsible for the operation of a family of schools (20 elementary schools and 3 secondary schools), as well as extended day programs, district-wide.
The process to identify and recruit a replacement began last fall when Director Roger Clarke announced his retirement. The board tasked a selection committee to work with a recruitment consultant to develop a list of candidates and conduct interviews. Mr. Buffone was selected after a thorough search that lasted four months.
“Pino’s skills and perspective will ensure that RCDSB continues to be a place where curiosity, creativity, imagination and innovation are celebrated and students are engaged to explore and discover their own pathways to success,” added Chair Hewitt. “He understands where we are and where we need to move toward as an organization.”
An educator since 1994, Mr. Buffone has served as a classroom teacher in the Western Quebec School Board and as a teacher, vice-principal, principal and supervisory officer in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
In addition, he has worked on secondment at the Education Quality and Accountability Office – an arm’s-length agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for provincial, national and international large-scale assessments – as an Education Officer, and subsequently, as Co-ordinator of English-language Assessments.
He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Ontario Staff Development Network and has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Ottawa-Carleton Education Network as well as Part-Time Academic Staff, Faculty of Education – University of Ottawa, for the Teacher Education Program & Native Teacher Education Program.
“I am both honoured and humbled to lead and serve as Director for the RCDSB,” said Director-designate Buffone. “I am eager to meet as many staff, students, parents and community partners as possible. I want to continue the important work of making the RCDSB a progressive, creative and outstanding educational organization for all of our students.”
The appointment of a new Director coincides with the adoption of a renewed and refreshed Board Strategic Plan aimed at building a system that is more responsive to the emerging realties facing students, staff, parents and the greater community.
