The School Committee will not reopen its search for a permanent school superintendent until it has given full consideration to the application of Hildreth Elementary School principal Dr. Linda Dwight.
The decision was made at the a regular meeting of the committee Monday evening, June 17, in Town Hall with all five voting members present. Also present were Devens representative Maureen Babcock, acting School Superintendent Joe Connelly, and Finance Director Lorraine Leonard. Dwight and Bromfield principal Jim O’Shea had left the meeting earlier, following a presentation of changes to their respective school handbooks.
‘Overwheming majority’
In her opening remarks, Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger said she had been contacted “no less than 50 times over the past week” by residents. “For sure,” she said, “there is a majority, if not an overwhelming majority,” in favor of considering Dwight’s candidacy “prior to engaging in a full search.” But “there was concern about how we do it,” she said. “Transparency, the opportunity to weigh in—for the public to really own a candidate, if we’re not going to do a full search—is paramount to us getting it right, [and] for the public to support…the candidate that we choose.”
“I want people to understand that we’re not proposing that the School Committee go behind closed doors and throw a candidate in there without a public process,” Redinger continued. “I’m also not sure that people fully understand that Dr. Connelly is our superintendent for next year…regardless of the outcome of evaluating an internal candidate.”
Redinger concluded by stating that she had researched the process used by search firms and other districts for choosing superintendents, and “pretty much they all say, look for an internal candidate first. But this is a committee decision,” she said, and asked for comments from other members.
As each member of the committee spoke, it became clear that in spite of concerns that public comment would vary by constituency, the results were consistently in favor of giving first consideration to Dr. Dwight. Member Bob Sullebarger said his email and messages ran “two to one” in favor of considering her candidacy before widening the search. “You get a sense of how serious people are when they take the time to write,” said member Keith Cheveralls, “not only in terms of the number of responses that we received, but the pure quality of what people said, which was absolutely astounding.”
The purpose of hiring a search firm in the first place, said member Kirsten Wright, was to increase the pool of candidates. “Here we find ourselves in a place where our pool has been increased,” she said. “Whether we go ahead with a search firm or not, this is something we need to do,” she said. “We can’t do one without the other.” Still, she added, “I’m not convinced this is something [the school committee] can do without some help.”
The roundtable lasted less than 20 minutes, at which point Redinger said she was hearing “a consensus to favor Linda.” No vote was taken, but there were no objections.
FMS ‘on hold’
Talk then turned to the question of whether the committee should rescind its previous vote in favor of opening negotiations with FMS, a firm that specializes in superintendent searches. Although he had abstained from the vote to hire FMS two weeks ago, member Keith Cheveralls said that rescinding the action was unnecessary and that he preferred placing the search “on hold” until Dwight’s candidacy had been evaluated. “I just want to be clear with this committee that I won’t be negotiating with FMS,” said Redinger, who said she had already told the firm the contract was on hold.
“Leave the vote as it stands,” Cheveralls said. “We’re following two tracks.”
Finally the committee took up the question of how to evaluate Dwight’s candidacy. “We need to do what we did with our finalists,” Redinger declared, but she favors moving quickly and reaching a decision before the start of the school year in September. “Things happen” when you wait too long, she said.
While committee members unanimously favored a “fast track” evaluation, they also wanted to ensure there was public support for their final decision, whether for or against. “If Dr. Dwight does become the next superintendent, I want a process that supports her from the beginning,” said Wright.
A ‘hybrid’ approach
In the end, the committee settled on what Cheveralls termed a “hybrid” approach in which the job opening will first be posted internally—a step the committee has not previously taken—and Dwight will be asked to apply formally for the position, submitting an application, resume, and letters of recommendation by July 8. At the urging of Cheveralls, with support from Connelly, the committee will then assemble its own panel of experts to evaluate Dwight’s application, drawn perhaps from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents or the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.
Should their recommendation be favorable, Dwight would then be asked to take part in open forums with teachers and members of the community in late August or early September, before appearing before the School Committee for a final interview. The goal, the committee agreed, was to have a decision by the first week of September, leaving time to begin a full search later that month, should one be required.
No votes were taken at Monday’s meeting, but no objections were voiced when Redinger summarized the committee’s recommendations. Afterwards, members praised Redinger for her handling of the meeting. “We did a really good job,” said member Kristen Wright.
The meeting was not broadcast or recorded, however, because a power surge caused by an earlier storm had reportedly disabled the equipment. There was no one from the cable committee present to fix the problem.
