Published December 25. 2020 12:01AM | Updated December 25. 2020 5:53PM By
It was a nice gesture for the Groton Board of Education earlier this month to name the library media center at the new middle school the “Dr. Michael Graner Library Media Center” in honor of the retiring superintendent.
If anything, given Graner’s influence on shaping the Groton school system, it doesn’t seem quite enough.
Graner, who announced in July his plans to retire, was hired as Groton superintendent in 2013 after a decade serving in that capacity in Ledyard. He inherited the leadership of a school system that continued to face the challenge of educating a large contingent of children of military families, whose frequent relocations create a special challenge. A school system with aging schools. And a town with wide swings in racial and economic makeup from one neighborhood elementary school to another.
Groton The library media center at Groton Middle School is being named after retiring Superintendent Michael Graner.
The Board of Education voted at a special meeting Monday to name the library media center at the new middle school at the top of Fort Hill Road, adjacent to Fitch High School, the “Dr. Michael Graner Library Media Center.” The vote was followed by a virtual tribute ceremony for Graner.
A plaque was unveiled with an image of the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle, and an inscription noting the library name and Dr. Michael Hughes Graner, Ph.D., as retired USCG Captain and Groton Public Schools superintendent from 2014 through 2020. It will be installed at the school at a later date.