Wareham names three superintendent finalists; schedules site visits, public meet-and-greets and Thursday interviews
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Summary
The Wareham School Committee announced three finalists — Eric Chaffee of Plymouth, Amy Hartley Matson of Randolph and Worley Williams of New Bedford Vocational — and a rapid series of site visits, community meet-and-greets and Thursday evening public interviews, committee members said at a Nov. 3 meeting.
WAREHAM, Mass. — The Wareham School Committee on Nov. 3 received a report from its superintendent search committee and announced three finalists to succeed the district’s superintendent: Eric Chaffee, assistant superintendent for Plymouth Public Schools; Amy Hartley Matson, assistant superintendent for the Randolph School District; and Worley Williams, principal of New Bedford Vocational Regional High School.
"We had 20 applicants originally applied for the position of superintendent. As a committee, we decided to interview six of those candidates, and we narrowed it down to three finalists," said Kevin, a member of the Wareham School Committee. The finalists will be interviewed publicly on Thursday in the committee’s regular meeting room at the Wareham Multi-Service Center.
The search committee and the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC), which is assisting the district, described a process that combined numerical scoring and discussion. "MASC provided a rubric that they could use to rate each answer to each question of each semifinalist on a scale of 1 to 5," said Sean Costello, the MASC representative working with Wareham. Committee members said candidates were advanced through rounds of polling and votes; members discussed a majority threshold during the meeting.
Under a condensed schedule the committee will conduct site visits to each finalist’s current district the week of the interviews: Tuesday site visits to Randolph, Wednesday to New Bedford Vocational, and Thursday to Plymouth, each from 8:30 to 10 a.m. In Wareham, the district will host each finalist for a full-day visit and public meet-and-greet: Worley Williams is scheduled in Wareham on Tuesday, Eric Chaffee on Wednesday and Amy Hartley Matson on Thursday, with in-district schedules running roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each day includes a 10–11 a.m. meeting with the superintendent and town administrator, school tours and a 2:45–3:45 p.m. meet-and-greet in a school library; the committee clarified that Tuesday’s meet-and-greet will be in the high school library, Wednesday’s in the middle school library, and Thursday’s back in the high school library.
Public interviews are set for Thursday evening in the Multi-Service Center: Worley Williams at 4:15 p.m., Eric Chaffee at 5:45 p.m. and Amy Hartley Matson at 7:15 p.m. Committee members said the public is invited to attend and listen to those interviews.
Committee members also divided responsibility for reference checks. Each finalist listed three references; the committee agreed to split the nine calls so that three committee members — Jeff, April and Roger — will each call one reference per candidate. "I don't actually recommend that, number one, because I'd like to get different opinions on the same candidate's references," Costello said, and he suggested committee members focus on professional experience and district-specific examples rather than legally sensitive topics.
Costello told the committee that the finalists have already been vetted to the extent typical for district employees: their employing districts completed fingerprinting and licensure checks, and MASC cross-referenced each candidate’s Massachusetts educator licensure. "Each one of them has their licensure for that," he said, adding that all three finalists accepted their finalist status and have made themselves available for the rapid schedule of visits and interviews.
The committee thanked the 13 members of the search committee and the applicants; Kevin singled out student member Emily Brundage for representing students in the process. Before adjourning the committee noted that Town Meeting recently approved new lights for Spillane Field, an unrelated facilities update.
The committee moved to adjourn at the end of the session; the motion was seconded and no dissent was voiced.
Thursday’s interview schedule, the full-day visit times and the locations for the meet-and-greets will be included in the district’s public notice and candidate packets distributed by the district and MASC.
