MELROSE — The group charged with helping the School Committee find the city’s next chief educational officer has been selected and will meet for orientation Thursday, February 16.
The Superintendent Screening Committee members are School Committee members Ed O’Connell (serving as Screening Committee chair) and Lizbeth DeSelm; Ken Forton; Rachel Simon Cordella; Jeff Ugino; Sandy Dixon; Thomas Karthaus; Russell Johnson; Cari Berman; Vanancia Cruz; Joellen Beaudet; Michaela Ilebode and Zach Sawyer.
They will have a hand in finding candidates to succeed outgoing Supt. of Schools Dr. Julie Kukenberger.
In a release a couple of weeks ago looking for volunteers to serve on the Screening Committee, the School Committee said it was committed to having a “diverse and inclusive preliminary Screening Committee that will include representatives from the School Committee, staff, community, parents and an expert in the field. The Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) is assisting the SC in this recruitment and selection process and their search consultants will facilitate the Screening Committee process, which is a confidential candidate screening process that will meet in Executive Session. The Screening Committee will be charged with forwarding a small number of candidates (finalists) to be interviewed by the full School Committee. From these finalists, the School Committee will interview and appoint the next Melrose Superintendent of Schools.”
The roles included in the Screening Committee’s make-up include: 2 School Committee members; 1 District Administrator; 3 District Teachers (one from each level: Pre-K/Elementary, Middle School, High School); 1 District Principal; 1 Staff Member (from a bargaining group/unit/category other than those identified above); 3 Parents (one from each level: Pre-K/Elementary, Middle School; High School); 2 Community Representatives; 1 Expert in the Field of Education.
Here is the schedule of meetings set by the School Committee:
February 16 – Orientation Meeting – 1 – 1.5 hours.
Start time approx. 6:00 pm. At this meeting the MASC consultant will review confidentiality expectations and the Screening Committee will identify interview times for the period of March 6-13.
March 2 – Candidate Selection
Start time approx. 6:00 pm. The Screening Committee will identify candidates to be invited for interviews during the period of March 6-13.
Period of March 6-13 – Candidate Interviews
Interviews will take place in the late afternoon and early evening, approximately 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm.
March 14
Screening Committee presents a list of finalists to the School Committee.