Lynn super interviews begin today

LYNN – Taunton Public Schools Superintendent Art Stellar has held just about every job possible in the education field, from bus driver to big-city superintendent. Thursday night he will bring his resume to the school administration building in the hopes of making Lynn his next professional stop.Stellar and Leominster Public Schools Interim Deputy Superintendent Lore Nielsen will each interview with the School Committee tonight, the first of seven candidates who will interview over three days for the right to replace retiring Superintendent Nicholas Kostan.Stellar, a Columbus, Ohio native, is hoping to return to the North Shore three decades after leaving his position as director of Elementary Education in Beverly for a higher position in Rockville, Md. Since that time he has worked in nine different states and served as superintendent of six different school districts, including Oklahoma City from 1985-92 and Boston for a short period in 1995.Now in his third year in Taunton, Stellar says he wants to return to the North Shore and help lead Lynn through a difficult financial period.”I worked in Beverly early in my career and have always liked the North Shore. Lynn is an urban district – I have spent about half of my career in urban districts and the other half in other kinds of districts,” he said Wednesday. “My goal was to become a superintendent in an urban area, so I moved around to try and move up the chain. The biggest challenge every district in every state has is financial, and I have been pretty successful with that.”Under Stellar, Taunton Public Schools spends 16 percent less than the state average each year and spends less than 21 of the other 22 urban school districts in the state. Stellar also says his district has saved $1 million in energy costs since he took over in 2005.Along with his experience as a teacher, administrator and superintendent, Stellar has also worked in the private sector for Renaissance Learning, a software company, and as president and CEO of High Scope Educational Research Foundation.He holds a bachelor, Master’s and doctorate degree from Ohio University.Beginning her career in Florida as a language arts teacher, Nielsen worked her way up the education ladder as a coordinator, consultant, curriculum director and principal in a variety of Florida school districts, before moving to Wilmington, Mass. in 1996 to serve as assistant superintendent.While in Wilmington, Nielsen took the helm as co-chair of the technology task force and was instrumental in authoring the district’s first five-year technology plan.She took over as superintendent in Ayer in 2004, leading a district of 1,300 students until leaving in 2007.Nielsen has been interim deputy superintendent in Leominster since last spring. She holds bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida and a doctorate degree from the University of South Florida.Calls to Nielsen were not returned Wednesday.Today’s interviews will take place beginning at 4 p.m. in the Tiger’s Den Cafeteria in the Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute Annex at 90 Commercial St. The interviews are open to the public and will last one hour each, leading into a Curriculum Subcommittee and School Committee meeting beginning at 6:15 p.m.Additional interviews will take place Wednesday, Dec. 18 with Ford School Principal Claire Crane joining Worcester Deputy Superintendent Stephen Mills beginning at 4 p.m.The final day of interviews will take place Thursday, Dec. 18 with Lynn Deputy Superintendents Jaye Warry and Catherine Latham and Classical Principal Warren White, also beginning at 4 p.m.