MELROSE — The following comes from the School Committee.

As part of the Superintendent Search process, the Melrose School Committee (SC) is committed to having a diverse and inclusive preliminary Screening Committee that will include representatives from the School Committee, staff, community, parents/caregivers, students, and an expert in the field. The Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) is assisting the SC in this recruitment and selection process and their search consultants will facilitate the Screening Committee process, which is a confidential candidate screening process that will meet in Executive Session. The Screening Committee will be charged to forward a small number of candidates (finalists) to be interviewed by the full School Committee. From these finalists, the School Committee will interview and appoint the next Melrose Superintendent of Schools.

The SC would like to invite interested and qualified volunteers to consider applying for the Screening Committee, by virtue of your role. A Screening Committee Selection Committee will make selections in late September.

The roles included in the Screening Committee’s make-up include:

• 2 School Committee members

• 1 District Administrator

• 3 District Teachers (one from each level: Pre-K/Elementary, Middle School, High School)

• 1 District Principal

• 1 Staff Member from a bargaining group/unit/category other than those identified above

• 3 Parents/Caregivers (one from each level: Pre-K/Elementary, Middle School, and High School)

• Up to 2 Community Representatives

• 1 Expert in the Field of Education

• Up to 2 Students

To be considered, you must be available in person* on the late afternoon/evenings of:

Wednesday, October 11 – Orientation Meeting – 1.5 – 2.0 hours starting at approximately 6:00 pm. At this meeting, Screening Committee members will engage in bias training, determine group norms, review confidentiality expectations, and engage in other requisite training, after which the Screening Committee will identify interview times for the period of October 23 & 25-30.

Tuesday, October 17 – Candidate Selection – Start time approx. 6:00 pm. and continuing to the end of the decision-making process, potentially 3.0 hours. The Screening Committee will identify candidates to be invited for interviews during the period of October 23 & 25-30.

Monday, October 23 & Wednesday, October 25 – Monday, October 30 – Candidate Interviews – Interviews will take place in the late afternoon and early evening, approximately 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm. A light dinner is expected to be provided.

*It is critical that all members of the Screening Committee be present for all candidate interviews to enable participation in voting for finalists. Setting meeting dates for the Screening Committee before recruiting is critical to keeping the search on track by ensuring that interested volunteers are able to attend the scheduled meetings.

If you are interested in being considered and can be available on the dates/times identified above, please email School Committee Chair Margaret Driscoll at mpssupersearch@melroseschools.com or mail it to 49 Boston Rock Road, Melrose, MA 02176 to be received no later than 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 23. Please provide a brief introduction and explanation about why you would like to be a member of the Screening Committee, and indicate the role(s) with which you’d like to be affiliated. Applicants should consider sharing information you believe would be helpful to the School Committee for building a diverse and inclusive Superintendent Screening Committee, including experience with special education, multi-language learning communities, and METCO, in Melrose or elsewhere.

We will likely receive more interest in serving than our process allows. The difficult selection decision will be based on our attempt to have a Screening Committee that is broadly representative of the Melrose community.

Thank you for your interest and consideration!

Best,

Margaret E. Raymond Driscoll

Chair

Melrose School Committee