School Super search on hold in Lynn

LYNN – With more than three weeks left before the public posting for retiring Superintendent Nicholas Kostan’s job officially closes, School Department officials are in a holding pattern, unsure of what direction they will take in the hiring process.In past years, resumes have been examined by a screening committee and narrowed to the top four or five candidates for the School Co-mmittee to int-erview, but there is some question as to how much interest the job will generate this time around.The committee has already voted to raise the base salary range from $118,000-$130,000 to $130,000-$150,000 per year and to extend the timing of the post from 30 to 45 days in an effort to generate more interest from the most competitive candidates, but members are still unsure of how many out of district resumes will appear given the mid-school year opening.Human Resources Director Patricia Libby says it is too soon to determine how much interest the job has generated as applicants have until Dec. 1 to send materials to the School Department.Libby said she expects to have a screening committee look at the resumes, but is still working out the details with the School Committee.”Usually we have the screening committee narrow it down to a manageable number, and that is the plan if there are a lot of candidates, but it is too soon to tell,” said Committee member John Ford. “If there are only four or five resumes, I think we owe them all the right to come interview with us. It is hard to decide what we are going to do right now, all we can do for now is wait until Dec. 1.”Kostan announced in September that he intended to retire as close to Jan. 1, 2009 as possible. That leaves the committee a month- minus the Christmas and New Year’s Day break- once resumes are in to determine who will lead the district into the 2010 budget season and beyond.The School Committee voted last month, against the wishes of Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., to post the opening immediately in lieu of hiring an interim to work under Kostan and finish out this school year.Clancy had suggested Classical High School Principal Warren White for the job, but said at the same time he did not have anyone in mind that he would recommend for the permanent position.”Like I have said, unlike eight years ago when I knew I wanted Nick Kostan, I do not have a horse in this race,” Clancy said. “I thought Warren White would have been perfect (for an interim position) but the Committee disagreed with me, and that is OK. I really do not have a horse in this race.”White, along with Deputy Superintendents Jaye Wary and Catherine Latham are expected to show interest in the position, and Clancy predicts that a challenging district such as Lynn could intrigue others from out of the district to apply.One outsider who has been rumored for the job is current Swampscott Superintendent Matthew Malone. Malone, a former assistant superintendent of San Diego Public Schools, has experience working in an urban school district and has been a finalist for two urban positions in the state – Springfield and Worcester – in the past year.Malone’s contract expires in 2009 and he has announced he will not return to Swampscott. Speaking Wednesday, he said he has not applied for the job or heard from anyone in Lynn regarding the position, but did not rule out interest.”I don’t know anything about the Lynn position at all, no one has contacted me. But I do know that Nick Kostan has done a hell of a job in Lynn and there are some real good things going on over there,” he said. “I am an urban educator. I have already announced I am not staying (in Swampscott) and it is no secret I am looking for a job in an urban city. I have been a finalist, I have finished in second place in Worcester and Springfield, so we will see.”