LYNN — Members of the Superintendent Search Committee gathered in City Hall Monday evening to discuss the process for interviewing candidates for the city’s top education job over the next two months.
After a series of public focus groups coming in the next few weeks to determine the public’s priorities for selecting the ideal candidate, along with a public survey to be announced later this week, Search Committee members will begin to interview prospective candidates to test their suitability for the role of Lynn superintendent of schools.
Massachusetts Association of School Committees Executive Director Glenn Koocher said at the start of the meeting that when applications for the position come in, School Committee members must be careful about disclosing detailed information on the details of the search process to members of the public.
“If someone calls you and says ‘oh I heard you were on the Search Committee’ I would advise you to pore over the process, and not get into anything else,” Koocher said.
Mayor Jared Nicholson, who serves as the committee’s chair, said that any questions from the public that committee members are unsure of, should be referred to himself before the committee.
Koocher requested that all Committee members return to their next meeting with a set of proposed questions to ask their first wave of candidates.
In a discussion of interview procedures, members were given a pamphlet with mock questions ranging from how the prospective candidate would tackle instances of student-on-student violence after it had been leaked to the press to how the candidate would approach the district’s desire to improve and maintain high academic achievement.
When Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Faustina Cuevas asked how the committee would hold themselves accountable in the scenario that bias would arise during the interview process, the committee decided that the chair, Nicholson, would ultimately decide how to handle the situation.
“It’s almost like everyone’s on board to hold each other accountable so that we have a fair and equitable process in finding the right person to take over this position,” Cuevas said. “It sounds like we have a really good group here that is excited and wants to find the right person to step into the role. I’m excited just at that conversation around bias and having people be open to holding each other accountable. Sounded like we’re on the right side.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected]
