Published December 18, 2019
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The School Committee hopes to hire the next superintendent by mid-April.
The committee kicked off the process for hiring Superintendent Jane Tremblay’s successor by unanimously voting to enter an agreement with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) during a Dec. 10 meeting. Tremblay recently announced she will be retiring in June.
Former School Committee member Dorothy Presser, who works as a field director for MASC, will be assisting the committee as part of the search process.
“Dorothy is one of the leading authorities in the state on identifying and selecting a new superintendent,” said School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman. “We are members of MASC and it’s a resource that we have. Dorothy’s knowledge of the district is an added bonus for us.”
Presser gave an overview of the consultant services MASC provides school committees that are searching for a superintendent. She also outlined a tentative timeline as part of the search process.
“When we do a superintendent’s search, it is your search,” said Presser. “We are the consultants that help you have a successful search. It’s a partnership and we make sure that we are following your lead and giving you guidance where it’s appropriate.”
Presser said the first step in the process will be conducting focus groups and developing an online survey via SurveyMonkey. The focus groups will take place in January and the survey will also be administered in January.
“We have found that online surveys get more responses than the focus groups do,” said Presser. “It’s easier to sit at home in your jammies and answer some questions than go out to a meeting in the evening. We put those together and compile a report for you that gives feedback about what the community is thinking about for leadership in the district.”
After MASC compiles the report, Presser said the next step in the process is having the School Committee form a screening committee in late January. The screening committee will be tasked with reviewing the applications and identifying semifinalists.
Presser said the superintendent job will be posted throughout the month of February. She said MASC will collect all of the applications.
“From the standpoint of doing the administrative work for the search, that falls to us and not to you,” said Presser. “That allows you to concentrate on the decisions you need to make.”
Presser said only two members of the School Committee can serve on the screening committee due to the Open Meeting Law.
“You make the choice of whether the screening committee sees all of the applications or whether you ask MASC to do some prescreening,” said Presser. “My preference is the screening committee sees all of the applications and you go forward from there. You define how many finalists you would like the screening committee to bring to you. After the screening committee completes it’s work, the School Committee will interview and vet the finalists.”
In response to a question from School Committeeman Phil McQueen, Presser said most screening committees consist of teachers, administrators, central office representatives, parents and community members.
“You don’t want the screening committee to be too big,” said Presser. “You probably want 11 to 12 people. If it gets too big, it could become unwieldy.”
School Committee member Tim Doyle asked if MASC provides oversight for the screening committee.
“We conduct all of the focus groups and we facilitate all of the screening committee meetings,” said Presser. “If there is a meeting about the search, MASC is present. I can’t guarantee it will be me every time because it depends on scheduling issues and so forth. But if there is something going on with the search, MASC is present.”
Hayman inquired how many applications school districts usually receive.
Presser said the average school district generally receives around 30 applicants. She said the screening committee decides how many semifinalists will be interviewed. She said the interviews with semifinalists will take place in executive session in order to protect the candidates’ confidentiality.
“The screening committee does get direction on how many finalists the School Committee wants to see,” said Presser. “The average is usually three to five.”
School Committee member Stacy Dahlstedt noted several North Shore communities are searching for a superintendent. She inquired how that will impact the search process.
Presser said, “Everything is confidential until someone becomes a finalist.”
“Members of this School Committee who are not on the screening committee will never know who applied except for the finalists,” said Presser. “We require everyone who applies to the search to apply independently. It’s not unreasonable for people to be applying to multiple places, but what we are looking for is a fit for Lynnfield.”
Hayman stated in a Facebook post that the School Committee appreciates the “overwhelming initial interest in participating on the screening committee.”
“We will be posting more information about the requirements during the first few weeks of January,” said Hayman. “The School Committee welcomes anyone in the Lynnfield community interested in being on the screening committee to apply, while recognizing there will be a limited number of members. Any potential screening committee members should also be aware that there will be a very heavy time commitment during the last week of February and the first two to three weeks of March and all committee members will be expected to attend all meetings”.
Hayman said the screening committee will be meeting in early March to identify semifinalists and conducting interviews.
“In mid to late March, the screening committee will present the list of finalists to the School Committee,” said Hayman. “At the end of March and the beginning of April, the School Committee will conduct site visits to the finalists’ districts. The finalists will visit Lynnfield and the School Committee will conduct public finalist interviews.”
Hayman said the School Committee hopes to appoint the next superintendent by April vacation and the school system’s next leader will begin their tenure on July 1.
“In the few weeks since Superintendent Tremblay made her announcement, we have heard from many educators and administrators across the state about how strong the Lynnfield district is, and that they expect the superintendent position to be highly coveted,” Hayman stated. “This is in no small part due to the hard work the administrators, faculty and staff have done to put the current foundation in place and the support we receive from parents and the broader Lynnfield community. We will be looking for someone who can build on that foundation and help continue to push our district forward. The School Committee is optimistic that this will be reflected in the quality of applicants for the superintendent position.”