Lynn board to name new school superintendent today

LYNN – The name of the next superintendent of the Lynn Public Schools is expected to be announced at today’s 4 p.m. School Committee meeting.Despite the fact weekend snowstorms closed the Lynn schools today, retiring Superintendent Nicholas Kostan confirmed Sunday that the choice would still be made public today.Interviews of the six candidates concluded Thursday, and the Committee members took the weekend to ponder their pick.There were initially eight candidates seeking to replace Kostan, but two dropped out.Four of the remaining candidates are currently Lynn Public Schools employees and only two are from outside the district.Lynn Deputy Superintendent Jaye Warry held the district’s top curriculum position before becoming Deputy Superintendent, serving as Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum and Instruction from 2002-06. The Lynn native spent time in the district as an ESL and music specialist from 1981-93 and as Title 1 Director from 1993-98.A well-publicized feud with then-Superintendent James Mazareas caused Warry to leave the district for four years during which time she worked as principal of Fox and Burnham schools in Haverhill.In her interview, Warry spoke about the need to be more careful and creative with grant money and federal funds so that the district can begin improving its depleted school facilities, and expressed a desire to begin including world languages in the elementary school curriculum to introduce to students at an earlier age.Lynn Classical High School Principal Warren White ? a former physical education teacher ? is the only candidate without a doctorate degree, but is certified with the state as a superintendent. Like Kostan, White followed a stint as Classical’s assistant principal with a job as principal of Breed Middle School from 1993-2004, before taking over his current post at Classical.In his interview White said he is the “right person at the right time” to lead the school department. He said his top priorities would be instructing the students, especially in core subjects such as reading and math, improving school facilities and bolstering professional development.Lynn Deputy Superintendent Catherine Latham has been with the School Department since 1992 when she began working as a math teacher at Breed Middle School. She quickly moved to the same position at Lynn English High School until 2002, when she joined the administrative ranks as School Support Coordinator.During her interview, Latham stressed the importance of increasing parental involvement in the schools by hiring minorities to provide a comfort level and to help with communication.In her 19 years as principal of the Ford School, Claire Crane has transformed the Highlands elementary school into a nationally recognized community school, and involved parents, businesses and community leaders in the effort. In her interview she said she hoped to institute some of the same programs and ideas district-wide if chosen superintendent.Taunton Superintendent Art 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.Former Ayer Superintendent Lore Neilsen started her career as a language arts teacher. She 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 fi