William D. Hart was appointed the new superintendent of Everett schools following a unanimous vote of the School Committee at its Dec. 20 special meeting.
Hart, 63, is officially in charge of the Everett school district after having served in the position in an interim capacity since Nov. 2. He will be in the superintendent’s office Jan. 2 as the approximately 7,500 students return from their holiday vacations.
“I’m excited to begin as superintendent,” said Hart. “Obviously, Everett’s my hometown. I was born here. I love the community. I know a good number of the people, and I know how to do this job, so I’m excited about it.”
A Long-Time Involvement in Everett
William D. Hart is the son of the late Bill Hart and Dolores Hart, who were lifelong Everett residents. He is a graduate of Merrimack College and holds a Master’s degree from Suffolk University.
He was elected to the Everett Common Council at the age of 21, serving for four years and later serving on the Everett School Committee for four years. He has been appointed by several mayors to different positions, serving on the Parks Commission and Board of Assessors, in addition to his work for his church and charitable organizations. He is also past president of the Everett Chamber of Commerce, having also served in that capacity for the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, where he was a widely admired leader in the community.
Executive Director of Community College System
Hart brings an impressive record in the field of education to the superintendent’s office. He started teaching in the community college system in the early 2000s, before taking a full-time administrative position. He was vice president of Bunker Hill Community College and became the deputy director and later the chief executive officer for the state’s 15 community colleges – which is the largest segment (more than 140,000 students) of public higher education in Massachusetts.
“Everett was the largest feeder community to Bunker Hill because of the school’s close proximity and our students wanting to take classes and pursue their associate’s degree there,” Hart noted. “I had the opportunity to meet a lot of Everett students when I was working at Bunker Hill.”
Building Strong Relationships With the Everett School Committee
Because of his presence in the Everett community for many years, Hart has had previous relationships with members of the Everett School Committee.
“The returning members have been great, I know several of the newer members, and I’m hoping to foster a strong relationship with those whom I don’t know that well,” said Hart. “I’ve reached out to each member to meet me and talk about the school system.”
Hart is also looking forward to working with Mayor Carlo DeMaria and other city officials on advancing the Everett schools.
“I look forward to working with any member of city government who has the kids in mind. I will work with them to do good things for Everett. That’s my No. 1 and only agenda,” said Hart. “I’m doing this job for the right reasons. This is my town and our schools and our students. I’m doing it for them.”
Hart said he will attend the Jan. 5 inauguration ceremony as an invited guest and in the formal role of superintendent, leading the members of the new Everett School Committee into the hall.
Evaluating the State of the Everett School District
During his interim tenure as superintendent Hart visited each school in Everett. He has met with parents and students and will be hosting meet-the-teacher coffee hours. He doesn’t plan any changes in the current makeup of the district.
“I just want to make sure we protect our students and provide our teachers with the resources they need to teach and support students,” said Hart.
Hart will also be reviewing data to “see how Everett stacks up with other school systems.”
Hart said he was pleased to see Everett become one of 19 school districts to advance to the next round in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s process for the construction of new schools.
“I think there were 300 school districts that applied for support from the MSBA, and we (Everett) were one of 19 invited to the next stage,” said Hart. “The next stage is a project manager being assigned to us and beginning the process and reviewing options with the city about the location, size, and design of the new school [Everett High School].”