Schools expect to pick new superintendent by March

News

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

November 5, 2009

By Bethany Bray

Andover may name its next superintendent before the winter is over.

School Committee Chairwoman Debra Silberstein says there is consensus to have a replacement selected "on or about March 1" for Claudia Bach, who announced last week her intention to step down at the end of this school year.

The School Committee wants to use an outside group to conduct the search, and is accepting bids for the job. Whoever is chosen will work in tandem with Andover's human resources department, said Silberstein.

The committee began the process this week, meeting with representatives from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees on Monday, Nov. 2. The MASC is "a very strong candidate" to conduct the search, said Silberstein.

"They have tremendous expertise in this area," she said. "The strength they have is in candidate recruitment. Because they are a state school association they have access to the national school board and other associations. I would expect they have an inside track throughout the country of leading candidates."

"We will get a different crop of candidates this way," said Silberstein.

The MASC has proposed a total cost of $8,500 plus additional costs for advertising and travel expenses, to complete the search, said Silberstein.

When Bach was hired in 1998, Andover's human resources department conducted the search. Bach applied from her school system in Oregon.

Silberstein said the field is very different now, 11 years later, and there are more than 50 superintendent openings in Massachusetts already this year.

The superintendent search will be discussed further at the Nov. 10 School Committee meeting, and MASC representatives will discuss a possible timeline, said Silberstein.

If hired, the MASC will develop a "leadership profile," identifying the district's success factors, major issues and expectations, said Silberstein. The search process would include meeting with focus groups of parents, staff and other stakeholders.