Nahant selects new schools superintendent

NAHANT – The Nahant School District has selected a new superintendent.Philip Devaux of Marblehead has been hired to replace Superintendent Joseph Lisi, who is retiring June 30 when his contract with the district expires.Devaux, who owns his own educational consulting business, served as the superintendent for the Marblehead Public Schools from 1995 through 2002.There were 12 candidates for the position and the three finalists included Devaux, David Sklarz of West Hartford and Joseph Connelly from Reading.School Committee Chairman Mickey Long said Devaux is a good fit for the district.”It was a tough decision,” he said. “All three candidates were top shelf and any one of the three would have done a good job. Devaux gave an excellent presentation to the School Committee and search committee. He was the unanimous pick of the search committee.”School Committee Vice-Chairman Christine Kendall agreed the district is lucky to have him.”We were really lucky,” she said. “We had three phenomenal candidates. It came down to who we thought would be the best fit for the town. We’re really excited about having him.”Kendall said Devaux starts work July 1 but he has already made a commitment to come in during June to work with the outgoing superintendent.”He’s coming in on his own time,” she said. “We expect a very smooth transition.”Long said the part time position pays $50,000 for 100 days of work. Lisi was being paid $46,000 for 100 days a year employment. Long said Devaux signed a one-year contract with the district and he is expected to start work July 1.”We hope it will go much longer than that,” Long said. “We are all looking longterm. We’re looking forward to introducing him to the teachers and students. We’re eager to get his ideas on how he will make a good school better.”Calls to Devaux were not immediately returned on Tuesday but Long said the new superintendent has his work cut out for him.”He’ll have a very tough job given all the budget cuts,” Long said.Lisi, who is a retired superintendent from Rockport, was hired in August 2007 as interim superintendent to replace Denise Littlefield, who worked for the district for several years and resigned suddenly in August 2007.