LYNN — The city will likely have a new superintendent of schools by Jan. 5 of next year, Mayor Jared Nicholson said in a tweet announcing the timeline of the search for a full-time superintendent as well as the members of the search committee.
Nicholson will team up with 12 other search committee members, comprising a mixture of city officials, Lynn school principals, parents, and teachers, to find a permanent superintendent for the 2023-2024 school year. Deb Ruggiero is serving as the city’s interim superintendent following the resignation of Dr. Patrick Tutwiler in August.
The committee will be comprised of School Committee members Donna Coppola and Lennin Pena along with principals Fred Gallo from Lynn Tech and Anthony Frye from Washington Elementary School. Additionally, the city’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Faustina Cuevas, North Shore Community College President Bill Heineman, and Lynn Teachers Union President Sheila O’Neil will serve on the committee alongside three parents: Tanisha Miller, Amy Butterworth, and Quendia Martinez. Two Lynn teachers: Lisa Escalera from Lynn English High School and Julie Potter from Shoemaker Elementary School will also serve on the committee.
The job posting for the superintendent position describes the ideal candidate as someone with 12 or more years of teaching and administrative experience who has experience working in an urban district and a masters or doctorate degree.
Pena said that although the committee should ultimately choose the most qualified candidate, he would like to see the next Superintendent be a bilingual Spanish speaker, who can best serve Lynn’s large Latino community.
“I’d like to see someone who would represent what the majority of the district is linguistically. I’d like for us to head in that direction, and I think it’s much needed for the district. But once again, I don’t want that preference to defer anyone from applying because we obviously want the best candidate,” Pena said.
Pena also said that he is pleased that the job posting describes a doctorate degree as “preferred” and does not mandate that level of education. He said that the right candidate with decades of experience should not ultimately be ruled out because he or she has a master’s degree and not a doctorate.
When asked what he thought the most important qualification for the position was, Pena replied that he would like to see a candidate with experience in special education.
“I’m going to stick with special education. Someone who specializes in special education, I think that’s very important. I know we’re heading into more of a social, emotional learning state and I think we’re going to need someone that can follow in Dr. Tutwiler’s footsteps. He put us on a really good path where we’re in a good condition, and I hope someone can continue that legacy,” he said.
Applications for the role of Superintendent are due Oct. 14. Three days after applications close, the Committee will hold semi-finalist interviews from Oct. 17 until Oct. 28. After that, the finalists will be brought in for a final round of interviews and site visits, with a final vote for the new Superintendent of Schools on Jan. 5, 2023.
The projected start date for the next Superintendent of Schools is July 1, 2023.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected]
