School Committee to choose between three remaining candidates Thursday
The four candidates for superintendent of schools has now been whittled down to three, as candidate Todd Stewart has accepted a position in Ashburnham as superintendent, and now three will be vying for the vote of the School Committee on Thursday night, Dec. 19.
The School Committee has called a special meeting in the Everett High library for the purpose of voting for a new superintendent after a process that began last spring and went through the summer and fall. After a community-led Search Committee presented the School Committee with four names last month, there have been interviews and visits one after another over the past several weeks.
On Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the future of the Everett Public Schools will come down to whomever can garner five votes.
“We will go around and call out the three names of the candidates and if one of them reaches five votes of the School Committee, then I will call the candidate and see if they’re interested in negotiating a contract,” said Chair Tom Abruzzese.
Abruzzese said it will be an historic moment for the community and the schools.
“It really, really is an historic moment,” he said. “It’s amazing to think of the timeline and I can’t thank people enough for their participation. People spent all day Saturday (Dec. 14) with the four candidates. On the one hand, it was grueling, but at the same time it was invigorating hearing these professional people talking about what it means to them to be superintendent of schools. It’s a very, very exciting time. It should be a great night.”
The one development this week in the search was the withdrawal of Stewart, who has accepted a superintendent post for the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District. He was chosen unanimously in a vote of that School Committee on Monday night, Dec. 16.
“We knew this might happen,” said Committeeman Frank Parker. “I’m really happy for Todd and I think he’s going to be a great superintendent there.”
Abruzzese said it speaks to the quality of candidates they have to choose from.
“To me, this is what happens when you have quality people,” he said. “There’s going to be competition. There are a lot of school districts looking for superintendents. I’m extremely happy for Todd and I’m happy with the three others that are left in our search.”