Offer on table for Swampscott interim super candidate

SWAMPSCOTT – The School Committee has voted to extend an offer to veteran school administrator Gary Murphy to be interim superintendent for the 2013-14 school year.Chairman Larry Beaupre said Thursday that Murphy’s contract details still needed to be worked out, and though he knew “about how much we can afford,” he declined to give a salary for the half-time position until there were “concrete numbers.”Beaupre said after Monday’s public interview and discussion with Murphy, of Wakefield, that the decision by the committee to make him an offer was smooth.”Gary brings a real wealth of experience to Swampscott. He’s been in district leadership roles for a long time,” said Beaupre. “It’s something we’ve never had in recent years. We tend to get people really early in their superintendent years.”Murphy, a former interim superintendent in Wakefield and the Hillsboro-Deering School district in New Hampshire and a former superintendent at Triton Regional School District, has spent years counseling and coaching other school districts. In 2006, he worked in Swampscott to counsel then-superintendent Matthew Malone, now the state’s education secretary.Beaupre said it was no secret that one of Murphy’s main roles would be to mentor the talent on Swampscott’s staff, mainly with Assistant Superintendent Pamela Angelakis.When asked if Angelakis could be the next permanent superintendent in 2014, Beaupre said, “The committee is thinking if next year goes well with her working with Gary, yes. We’re not pre-appointing someone, and there may or may not be a search for candidates at the time, but everyone in this district thinks very highly of Pam.”Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].