Following interviews with three finalists, School Committee declined to offer the position to any candidate.

In a series of deliberations last week, the Somerville School Committee voted to immediately reopen the application process for a new Superintendent of Schools. The School Committee hopes to select a new Superintendent by July 2023, in advance of the new school year. In November 2022 the School Committee selected the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) to help lead the search process. MASC will be retained for the reopened search process.

In late January the School Committee announced three finalist candidates who were selected from a pool of 27 applicants. After one finalist removed themselves from consideration, at their regular meeting on February 13^th the School Committee declined to offer the Superintendent position to either of the two remaining candidates. A new, expedited search process will kick off this week.

“I’m incredibly proud of the hard work that so many people put into our initial search process and thankful for the many candidates who expressed interest. We had some very qualified candidates, however we are committed to finding a candidate who has the right qualifications and skills and who meets the needs of our district as a whole. This School Committee is committed to doing the necessary, hard work to find the best possible candidate for the Somerville Public Schools. In this case, we have determined that this means reopening the search process while continuing to use the candidate profile we built based on the feedback from more than 450 SPS stakeholders. We will continue to invite public participation and feedback throughout this process,” said Andre Green, Chair of the Somerville School Committee.

“MASC is ready and eager to continue to continue with the reopening of the search for a new Superintendent of Schools. Reopening the search process solidifies the Somerville Public Schools’ commitment to finding the best candidate who meets the needs of its district. Qualifications matter, certainly, but the community should be proud that its school committee is true to its core values and wants to select a candidate who will best meet the needs of their stakeholders. In my experience, reopening a search process turn out to be a very valuable to that end,” said Glenn Koocher, Executive Director of MASC.

The application window for potential Superintendent candidates opened on February 16^th and will remain open through March 9^th. Applicants from the previous search process will have the option to re-apply.

Applicants Sought for New Screening and Interview Team

The School Committee is also seeking volunteers to serve on a new Screening and Interview Team. The Screening and Interview Team will be tasked with the confidential review of applicant resumes, conducting the first round of candidate interviews, and submitting a small pool of finalists to the full School Committee if they identify candidates they choose to advance to a second round. The Screening and Interview Team will be made up of representatives from the School Committee, SPS central administration, school administrators, educators, and community members. Anyone interested in serving on the Screening and Interview Team should fill out the form at the following link by Wednesday, March 1^st: Superintendent of Schools – Screening & Interview Team Interest Form

Members of the former Screening Committee are welcome to express interest again. The Team members will be announced on Monday, March 6^th.

The search for a new Superintendent of Schools in SPS was launched in summer 2022, following former Superintendent Mary Skipper’s selection as the Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools.

-Somerville Public Schools