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Tiverton committee accepts donation, approves NESDC agreement and names liaisons for superintendent search
Summary
The committee accepted a $13,850 donation raised to pay search expenses, approved a consulting agreement with the New England School Development Council (NESDC) for $13,760, and appointed Diane Farnworth as committee liaison and Assistant Superintendent Sarah Kreger as district liaison; consultant Dr. Victor Mercurio outlined a 90-day timeline.
The Tiverton School Committee accepted a $13,850 donation to cover expenses for the superintendent search, approved an agreement with the New England School Development Council (NESDC) for consultant services, and appointed both a committee liaison and a district liaison to manage the search process.
Vice Chair Deb Polish led fundraising efforts, and the vice chair spoke to the committee about the source of the donation and said the town attorney advised that fundraising for the search was not illegal or unethical. The committee formally voted to accept the $13,850 donation to pay search-related expenses.
The committee also approved an agreement with NESDC that sets the fixed consulting fee at $11,600 plus fixed expenses of $2,001.60 for a total cost of $13,760. The agreement covers NESDC support for a national recruitment effort and consultant services.
Dr. Victor Mercurio, the contracted consultant, addressed the committee and described a draft 90-day timeline aiming for a June appointment and a July 1 start date for the selected candidate. He outlined NESDC’s national and regional recruitment channels, an approach that includes six community focus groups and a community survey to develop a candidate profile, and a screening committee (recommended six to nine members) that would review and rank applicants. Mercurio emphasized confidentiality until finalists are selected and recommended that the screening committee commit to attending all interview sessions for consistency.
The committee appointed Diane Farnworth as the school committee’s liaison to NESDC and named Assistant Superintendent Sarah Kreger as school department liaison to support logistics, posting and scheduling. The committee also approved NESDC’s agreement and voted to contract the consultant services.
Less-critical details: members discussed the short/accelerated timeline and agreed to meet again the following week to set screening-committee roles and focus-group structure. Mercurio said the posting would go live within approximately five days and that a salary range was not required to post the vacancy.
