Wilmington School Committee votes to enter negotiations with Dr. David Thompson for interim superintendent

The Wilmington School Committee voted unanimously Thursday, April 10, to enter contract negotiations with Dr. David Thompson to become interim superintendent for the 2025–26 school year.

Committee members said they had three qualified finalists and discussed each candidate's strengths before coalescing around Thompson. “We had three qualified, capable candidates,” the committee chair said during the meeting, adding that hiring a superintendent is “one of, if not the most important things that we do as a committee.”

Committee members praised several aspects of Thompson’s record, including his experience leading middle schools, his work with Massachusetts School Building Authority projects and his community outreach. Members noted that Thompson had led a building project reported to be finished three months ahead of schedule and about $10 million under budget in a prior district; committee members described that as a concrete example cited during interviews and reference checks. Several members also pointed to Thompson’s reported success in securing a budget override in a prior district as evidence of his community engagement skills.

The committee framed the interim role as combining two responsibilities: serving as a public-facing leader during the pending MSBA vote and, if successful, participating in the leadership team that will carry the building project through schematic design and later phases. Committee members said the superintendent will serve on the School Building Committee but will not chair it; the permanent building committee, designers and project managers will drive much of the technical work.

The formal motion, presented to the committee at the April 10 meeting, was to “enter into contract negotiations with Dr. David Thompson to become our interim superintendent of schools for the 2025–26 school year.” The motion was seconded and the committee voted unanimously to approve entering negotiations. The transcript records the outcome as unanimous; individual roll-call votes were not read into the record.

Committee members thanked staff and community volunteers who supported the search and noted the fast turnaround on candidate interviews and community survey feedback. The committee chair said the next update to the committee will come at the April 30 meeting.

The committee also used the close of the meeting for brief procedural remarks, including a reminder that the town election is April 26 and that the next committee meeting is scheduled for April 30. No formal appointment or signed contract was announced during the April 10 meeting; the vote authorized entering negotiations only.