By NEIL ZOLOT
JOHN MACERO
MELROSE — In a unanimous vote, the School Committee appointed John Macero as interim superintendent of schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, at their meeting Thursday, April 27.
In a move designed to avoid repeating the problem from March when the chosen candidate opted to take a job elsewhere, Macero was called by the members after the vote and accepted the appointment. “He was graceful and is looking forward to joining us,” School Committee chair Margaret Driscoll said. “He’s ready to roll.”
“I’m very excited to join the team,” Macero said after finding out.
In another measure taken to make sure the person selected would take the job as an interim superintendent only without looking to be hired for a permanent position, the three candidates the School Committee interviewed are in or near retirement, which precludes them from taking permanent positions in Massachusetts under the terms of their retirement. “I’m technically ineligible because I’m retired, but I can take an interim position,” Macero explained.
(In March, Billerica Superintendent Tim Piwowar was appointed but decided to take a job in Westwood. Another candidate withdrew his name from consideration and there was little or no thought given to offering the job to the third finalist or asking outgoing Superintendent Julie Kukenberger, hired in 2020, to stay for another year. Her tenure was marked by problems in formulating the last budget.)
Macero was superintendent in Stoneham 2017 to 2022 and superintendent in Winthrop from 2011-2017. He was also a School Committee member in Winthrop from 2005-2009.
He worked as a principal in Everett and Revere and a teacher in Everett and Saugus, where he was also a School Committee member from 1981-91 and president of the Saugus Teachers Association from 1997-2000.
He’s currently wrapping up an assignment as an interim K-8 school principal in Malden.
Macero was interviewed at the School Committee meeting Wednesday, April 26 along with Ware Superintendent Marlene DiLeo. William McAlduff, with recent experience as an interim superintendent in Marblehead, Acton-Boxborough and Dover and earlier experience as superintendent in Winchester and Wilmington, was interviewed April 27, after which the School Committee voted to appoint Macero.
(In 2019 McAlduff was a candidate to be superintendent in Hamilton-Wenham in the same search that hired Kukenberger as interim superintendent there about a year before she became superintendent in Melrose.)
Macero’s experience as a superintendent and School Committee member impressed the members. “He’s been on both sides,” Jennifer Razi-Thomas said. “He’s been a guy who’s sat in this seat.”
Ed O’Connell said Macero’s experience as a superintendent, administrator, teacher and School Committee member shows “a lifelong commitment to education.”
“I had every role before becoming a superintendent,” Macero said. “I completed the circle and went all the way around. Being a School Committee member made it easier becoming a superintendent because I knew the process from that side.”
The three finalists all hit the right notes about communicating with the community, diligence in formulating budgets, cooperation with municipal government, creating in-house Special Education programs when feasible and acknowledging they would be hired as an interim superintendent not just as a caretaker but to stabilize the system and leave things in the best possible condition for the next permanent superintendent, but Macero came across better than the others. Comments like “I dedicate myself to a community,” “I get to know a community,” and “It’s important for the community to see the Superintendent,” all seemed to impress the School Committee.
“It takes a lot of personal style to run a district,” Driscoll said. “It came through.”
O’Connell called Macero’s answer about in-house SPED programs “the best I’ve heard in my years as a School Committee member. In a world where DiLeo or McAlduff were the only candidates I would be grateful, but we’re in a world where Macero is available. I think he’s the right choice.”
He also liked Macero’s attitude towards making Individual Education Plan meetings with parents “less adversarial.”
“There are a number of things he said that are sticking with me,” member Dorie Withey added. She was impressed by his comments on keeping SPED programs in Melrose and listening to families, a reference to Macero calling the SPED director “the most valuable person in a school system. “I thought he spoke about listening better than the others,” member Jennifer McAndrew said.
She also feels Macero’s “focus on transition grades between education levels is something we’re missing here in Melrose.”
“It seems he’d be good at relationships, perhaps better than the other candidates,” Mayor Paul Brodeur thinks.
Member Lizbeth DeSelm liked Macero’s philosophy of the role of an interim superintendent. “I’m not going to be the person that just makes sure the lights are on; I’m going to get involved,” he said. “My role is to help Melrose find a permanent person and help with the transition. We have to move the dial so we’re successful in the transition for the person coming on board to move the community forward.”
DeSelm also liked Macero’s style of solving problems by looking at the causes of an issue, not just the symptoms.
“I try to get a sense of the root of a problem,” he said. “You dig deep and then try to create solutions.”
DeSelm also sensed Macero was “itching to get back in the hot seat,” following his retirement from Stoneham in 2022, confirmed by Macero’s later remarks. “Once I felt I was rested I started to miss education,” he said. “When I saw an opening in Melrose I thought it might be a good opportunity to work for a year and a good fit. I’m happy to come back.”
He will start July 1 pending contract negotiations.
