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Schools see leadership shortage
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) February 19, 2009 | John Laidler GLOBE NORTH 1 / REGION While school districts across the region grapple with budget issues, some are facing the additional challenge of finding new leadership.
Superintendents Charles Chaurette of Amesbury and Claire Sheff Kohn of the Masconomet Regional School District are retiring at the end of the school year. Swampscott Superintendent Matthew Malone, meanwhile, has announced he will not be seeking a renewal of his contract when it expires June 30, 2010. web site princeton regional schools
Those pending departures follow a changing of the guard in the Lynn schools last month, when Nicholas P. Kostan retired as superintendent and Deputy Superintendent Catherine Latham was selected to replace him.
The Amesbury School Committee moved quickly to choose Chaurette’s successor. Opting to forgo a search, the committee on Feb. 3 appointed David Jack, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and human resources. The appointment, effective July 1, is subject to reaching contract terms, according to committee member Debra Bibeau, who was not present at the Feb. 3 meeting but supported the choice.
The panel concluded it made no sense to spend money on a search “when we have a very qualified, competent person” for the job, Bibeau said. In addition to the costs, the appointment avoids “any anxiety that goes with leadership change,” she said, noting the integral role Jack has played in budgeting and personnel in his four years with the district.
Bibeau, who is president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, also noted the difficulty districts face in finding strong superintendent candidates at a time when there are 53 openings statewide and a limited pool of applicants. She said 40 percent of districts recently choosing superintendents selected internal candidates.
Prior to his current job, Jack, 54, spent four years as business administrator for the Lincoln schools and 16 years as assistant superintendent for finance in Derry, N.H., where he resides.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Jack said. “The townspeople in Amesbury since I’ve come there have been wonderful. … Our School Committee has been very supportive.” Regarding the district’s fiscal challenges, he said: “I look at it as an opportunity. We are going to do our best to continue in the direction we’ve been going and to work hard till we see a better time. … From a financial standpoint, we have to find a way to make it work on behalf of our students, who we represent.” Chaurette, who started as Amesbury’s superintendent on July 1, 2004, after many years as an administrator in the Salem schools, cited the fiscal climate as a reason for his decision to retire. go to site princeton regional schools
“If the economy was still in relatively good shape, I would not even be considering retiring this year,” he said. But given his expectation that he would spend the next several years “cutting staff and programs we fought really hard to be able to build, I felt that the option of retirement for me was really a better option.” Kohn has headed the Masconomet school district, which serves students in grades 7 through 12 from Boxford, Middleton, and Topsfield, since August 2004. Before that, she had superintendent posts in the Princeton Regional Schools in Lawrence Township, N.J., and in Hull.
“The nature of our jobs and the fact that we have been commuting for eight years means we don’t get to see one another often enough. …
“There are impending retirements among administrators within the next one to two years, and it would not be good for the district if we were to go out together. It’s also beneficial if a new superintendent can pick his/her own team.” The Masconomet Regional School Committee has initiated the process of selecting Kohn’s replacement. According to committee vice chairwoman Laura Powers, the panel recently selected the New England School Development Council to serve as its search consultant. The goal is to have a new superintendent by Aug. 1.
Malone became Swampscott’s school chief on July 1, 2005, after having served as an administrator in the San Diego public schools and as a high school headmaster in the Boston public schools.
Malone, who aspires to be an urban school superintendent, was the runner-up candidate in school superintendent searches in Springfield last May and in Worcester in December.
Swampscott School Committee chairman David P. Whelan, who is not seeking reelection this spring, said he anticipates the search process for a new superintendent will get underway next fall.
John Laidler
