SWAMPSCOTT — The School Committee was joined by Massachusetts Association of School Committees Executive Director Glenn Koocher on Thursday night to discuss how the committee should conduct its search for Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis’ successor.
“You’re in the fortunate position of having your superintendent retire under the most honorable of circumstances,” Koocher said. “You have plenty of time to think about what you want to do.”
According to Koocher, 40% of school committees that find themselves in this situation appoint a successor who had already been trained to fill the position, while the remaining 60% conduct internal and external search processes.
“You can appoint me right now as your superintendent, that’s how much discretion you have,” Koocher said. “There’s no requirement that you have a search.”
Koocher suggested a public survey that he and his peers at MASC could distribute to residents at no cost that would ask open-ended questions related to the topic of the district’s superintendent. He also alluded to public forums with an internal candidate being an option.
Committee member Suzanne Wright said that if more than one internal candidate is being considered, a public forum might not be the best way to differentiate one from the rest.
“If there’s multiple candidates, I want to keep the harmony in the team and in the school,” Wright said. “There can be 10 candidates who are all really so strong, and the nuances between them aren’t going to come out in a public forum, I think.”
She added that she heavily favors the idea of a survey as opposed to a public forum.
Committee member John Giantis suggested that a needs-assessment survey for the district as a whole would be beneficial, however, he said that centering it around the superintendent search could potentially impede the speed of the search process.
“I think we should do this in an expedited fashion, and not drag it out for months and months,” Giantis said. “Be very clear about the succession planning so everybody knows what we’re thinking, what we’ve decided, and can plan accordingly.”
Vice Chair Amy O’Connor agreed with Giantis, citing the upcoming opening of the new elementary school as another reason to conduct the superintendent-search process efficiently.
Chair Glenn Paster nominated himself to take the lead on formulating the survey with Koocher moving forward.
