Saugus board names Manville’s successor

SAUGUS – The School Committee took less than 10 minutes Thursday to name Haverhill Assistant Superintendent Richard Langlois as Superintendent Keith Manville’s successor.The board voted unanimously to offer Langlois the job, which was a pleasant surprise to several of them. Due to the open meeting law, the committee members had not discussed their votes with each other.Committee member Rick Doucette said he’d only made his mind up Wednesday to cast his vote for Langlois.”I didn’t know it would be unanimous,” he said, clearly surprised. “We’d made a plan to take a unanimous vote if it didn’t turn out that way to show support, but we didn’t even need it. That’s great.”Langlois beat out Donald Ciampa of Tyngsborough and Kelly Clenchy of Maine for the School Department’s top spot.Committee members William Leuci, Christine Wilson and Wendy Reed each said, like Doucette, they struggled with their decision.”It was nice though to have all good choices,” Wilson said. “They were all different with different strengths. I wrestled all week with the decision of who was the best choice, the best fit.”Langlois has been an assistant superintendent for 14 years, but also has superintendent experience. In his tenure, Langlois has served under seven different superintendents and he served as interim superintendent during the various searches.Committee members admitted that Langlois also had in his favor the fact that he was local and had a clear understanding of the state educational system.Leuci said he had the impression that Langlois would take the job head-on, get things done, has a record of protecting his staffers and is a noted hard worker.Doucette said in talking with Langlois’ colleagues in Haverhill he was struck by how many of them commented on the man’s integrity.”And I felt he was loyal,” Doucette added. “He stayed 14 years and really dedicated himself to education there. Hopefully he’ll transfer that loyalty to this district, to us.”Doucette also said the fact that Langlois ran a successful marketing campaign to win students back to his district was a big selling point for him.”He fit all the criteria of what I was looking for in a superintendent,” Reed said simply.Reed and Wilson will now sit down with Langlois to negotiate his contract.Wilson said she is hopeful that the new superintendent will be able to work with the outgoing superintendent for a time before Manville takes his leave June 30.