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District seeks candidates for interim and permanent student‑services director; pool small so far
Summary
Superintendent reported four applicants for interim and four for the permanent Student Services Director positions (with one overlap) and said the pool may be insufficient; the district will extend outreach, may pursue a strong interim and repost in the fall if needed.
Superintendent and central office staff told the School Committee on May 15 that the district has four applicants for the interim student‑services director role and four applicants for the permanent position; one candidate applied for both roles.
The superintendent said the applicant pool is smaller than hoped at this point in the hiring cycle and noted that administrative hires late in the spring often attract fewer candidates because other administrators are under contract. "Given the resumes that we've received so far, I don't feel like we have an adequate pool to do a full interview process," the superintendent said, adding that the interim posting is open for about one more week and the permanent posting is open into June.
Committee members discussed recruitment tactics, including posting on SchoolSpring (PowerSchool), MASPA and superintendent networks, targeted outreach to retired student‑services directors and use of parent advisory groups for participation in hiring committees. A committee member noted CPAC had requested to participate in the hiring committee; staff indicated community representation has been part of past searches and would be included if the district moves forward with interviews.
Staff described two possible paths if the district cannot attract a robust permanent pool: hire an experienced interim (often a retiree) to preserve stability, or promote an internal candidate while reopening the permanent search in the fall. Committee members emphasized the need for a robust, community‑informed hiring process and said they would prefer not to rush a permanent hire for a critical, technical position.
The committee did not vote on a hire at the meeting and asked staff to continue outreach, report updates next week and return a recommended search plan if the applicant pool remains small.
