By NEIL ZOLOT

NORTH READING — School Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly outlined a timeline to hire a new High School principal to succeed retiring Principal Anthony Loprete by July 1.

“We’ve followed a similar timeline in the past,” Daly reported to the School Committee at its meeting on Monday, September 23.

In October and November there will be in-person and virtual focus groups with school staff members, students and parents to “gather information on what type of candidate we should be looking for and what type of questions we should be asking,” he stated.

By October 21, Daly wants to establish an Interview Committee composed of teachers, parents, a High School administrative assistant, a High School nurse or counselor, employees from the Central Office, a Middle School administrator, and a School Committee member, in addition to himself.

Applications will be due November 22, followed by a review of them November 23–25. A round of interviews will be conducted December 2–13, with finalists chosen by December 16.

From January 6–10 finalists will visit the school and the town and meet with the Interview Committee. The final decision, to be made by Daly, is planned for January 27. He explained that the Interview Committee will serve as “advisors to my decision, but having been through multiple selection processes, I feel I’ll be aligned with the group.”

The time between the planned naming of a new principal and the start date gives Daly some wiggle room if no adequate candidates are found. “If I don’t get good candidates, I’ll rethink the timeline,” he said. “People know this is coming, so I think we’ll get good candidates.”

He also said the same procedure will be used to find a successor to Little Elementary School Principal Christine Molle when she retires.

This is the first time the principal’s position has been open in about 20 years as Loprete was an internal hire. Loprete was the assistant principal when former principal Jon Bernard was appointed to serve as Superintendent of Schools in 2014. The search process for Bernard’s successor yielded two finalists.

“It’s a very important position,” Daly feels. “Want to make sure I have the right person.”

“This is important and could set a tone for years to come,” agreed School Committee member Noelle Rudloff .

Daly is looking for someone with administrative experience in schools, but not necessarily someone with a decade of experience. “We’re moving in the right direction so we can have someone move into the position,” he feels. “We want someone to bring in their own ideas.”

NO TOWN MEETING RECOMMENDATIONS

School Committee members declined to voice opinions on any of the warrant articles on the upcoming Fall Town Meeting slated for Monday, October 7.

“Typically we have not voted and stick to what directly relates to the school system,” School Committee Chairman Scott Buckley said in reference to the fall Town Meeting. “We need to think about the students and how we can advocate for more funding.”

“I don’t see anything we should vote on,” Rudloff agreed in regard to pending articles about zoning and electronic voting devices, among other things.

MCAS ON NOVEMBER BALLOT

Daly, however, did voice an opinion on the upcoming November 5 election ballot question that seeks to eliminate the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test (MCAS) as a high school graduation requirement.

The Information for Voters booklet provided by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office indicates “a yes vote would eliminate the requirement, but still require students to complete coursework that meets state standards,” and “a no vote would make no change relative to the requirement students pass MCAS in order to graduate.”

“It’s important for people to understand the test will remain to have a standardized mechanism we can look at,” Daly feels.

“There’s a lot wrong with standardized testing, but the data is meaningful. We use it for placement decisions and it’s the backbone of our School Improvement Plans and Goals. There’s an idea MCAS won’t matter and the data isn’t meaningful, but our message should be there’s a lot of value in it and we’re using the data.”