Published in the February 8, 2018 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
The School Committee is sticking to its self-described “aggressive timetable” when it comes to the process of hiring a new Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Kim Smith has announced her intention to retire as School Superintendent on June 30.
On Tuesday, the School Committee held a special meeting to formally appoint the members of the Screening Committee that will review applications and conduct the initial interviews with candidates. The Screening Committee will narrow the field down to four or five finalists, who will then be interviewed in public by the full School Committee.
At its previous meeting, the School Committee had identified a list of “stakeholders” or “stakeholder groups” that would be represented on the Screening Committee, a total of 15 individuals. At this week’s meeting, however, Labor Relations Subcommittee chairman Thomas Markham made a motion to add two additional members, bringing the total to 17.
Markham said that the committee had received a request from Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio to add another representative of town government to the Screening Committee in the person of Police Chief Rick Smith.
The committee also received a request from the Wakefield Memorial High School Alumni Foundation for representation on the Screening Committee. Markham recommended appointing Kevin Piskadlo to represent the Alumni Foundation. Piskadlo is a former member of the School Committee.
In making his motion to expand the size of Screening Committee for 15 to 17, Markham also listed the individuals whose names had been submitted by the various stakeholder groups to serve on the Screening Committee.
The full list of 17 members nominated to the Screening Committee in Markham’s motion included:
Thomas Markham – School Committee Vice Chair and Chair of the Screening Committee;
Estelle Burdick – Wakefield Education Association, Unit A, Woodville Teacher;
Harry Robinson – Wakefield Education Association, Unit A, WHS Teacher;
Andrew Tetrault – Wakefield Education Association, Unit B, Asst. Principal, Galvin Middle School;
Jane McConnell – Wakefield Education Association, Unit C, Paraprofessional, Galvin Middle School;
Deborah Collura – Elementary Principals, Greenwood School Principal;
Adam Colantuoni – Secondary Principals, Galvin Middle School Principal;
Maria Serrao – Central Office Staff, Director of Facilities & Transportation;
Leigh Farber – Elementary Schools PTOs, Woodville parent);
Matthew Leary – Middle School PTO, Galvin parent;
Laurie Hunt – High School PTSA, WMHS parent;
Chrissy Loftus – Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, Member;
Mary Letchford – Wakefield Educational Foundation, Treasurer;
Stephen Maio – Town of Wakefield, Town Administrator;
Richard Smith – Town of Wakefield, Police Chief;
Kevin Piskadlo – Wakefield Alumni Foundation, Member & Leader;
Marci Seidman – Community Member (chosen by lottery for a list of applicants). During discussion of Markham’s motion regarding the composition of the Screening Committee, School Committee member Kate Morgan expressed concern over making an already large committee even bigger. She wondered about the ability to schedule meetings with so many people and how that would impact the aggressive timetable that the School Committee had set for the process.
Markham said that he did not disagree with Morgan’s concern but felt that increasing the membership of the Screening Committee by two would not make much of a difference.
He also said that when Labor Subcommittee reached out to the stakeholder groups, the groups were informed of the tight schedule and were asked to select a representative who could commit to attending all meetings of the Screening Committee. Markham said that it was important for all Screening Committee members to participate in the interviewing of all candidates. He indicated that any member who missed a meeting could be asked to step aside.
Morgan was satisfied that Markham’s clarification addressed her concerns.
School Committee member Anne-Marie Fortier observed that the additions seemed to tip the balance of the Screening Committee more toward the “community” side. She said that she had no major objection, but had liked the original balance between school and community representation, noting that she liked the idea of more input from those who would actually be working closely with the new superintendent.
In response to a question, Markham said that the superintendent position and job description had already been posted on a number of professional sites. The deadline for applications is Feb. 23, according to the schedule established by the School Committee. Markham said that applications have already started coming in.
Markham explained that the Screening Committee interviews would be done in private, in order to protect the anonymity of applicants who may not want their current employers to know they are seeking another position. Once the finalists are named, the process will continue in public in the form of interviews with the School Committee.
The School Committee voted unanimously to appoint the aforementioned individuals to the Screening Committee.
Markham also noted that the Wakefield Public Schools web site has a page where documents related to the superintendent search are posted. Documents currently posted include the “Superintendent Search Timeline” and the “Wakefield Superintendent Job Posting.” Future documents will be added as the process moves forward. The Wakefield Public Schools web site is https://wakefieldpublicschools.org/WPS/.
