Saugus school employees seeking new positions

SAUGUS – A pair of Saugus school officials may be moving on after recently being named finalists for positions in other communities.Sam Rippin, Executive Director of Finance and Operations, is in the running for Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for Billerica schools while Waybright Elementary School principal Dr. Linda Arsenault is a finalist for the superintendent position in Dracut.Rippin said the position in Billerica was “just a great opportunity.”?It?s the next town over from where I live,” said Rippin. “I have two school-age children and family is important so me being closer is a plus. It?s a bigger district and it?s an assistant superintendent so there are a lot of pluses that made sense to at least pursue it.”Rippin said the Billerica position is the only job he?s looked at.?It just seemed to be an unusually good opportunity,” said Rippin.Calls to Arsenault?s office were not returned Wednesday, but Superintendent Richard Langlois said becoming a superintendent has always been a career ambition for her.?She wanted to grow professionally to be a superintendent,” said Langlois. “We support her. We?ll just have to adjust.”Arsenault just completed her fourth year in Saugus, while Rippin has been in Saugus for three years.Rippin said he?s proud of his track record in Saugus.?I?ve grown a lot here,” said Rippin. “It?s not a guarantee that I?m going to get it. If I don?t ? I would look to continue and be successful, although it?s going to be more challenging given the budget dynamic.”Langlois said the timing is “unfortunate” but noted nothing is certain.?We?ll see how it works out,” said Langlois. “I?d be happy for them if it happened, but also saddened that I?d have to shift gears again and go looking again. It?s a tough time of the year.”School Committee member Arthur Grabowski said he doesn?t like the way contracts are set up because administrators can leave whenever they want.?If we were to find some reason that we didn?t want (Rippin), he would say, ?No I have a contract,?” said Grabowski. “But he can apply to a job somewhere else and he gets to go and we?re left holding the bag. They want security by having a three-year contract, why can?t we have security on our end? I just don?t like the whole concept. It?s not exclusive to Saugus. It?s like musical chairs with these administrators.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].