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Date: 9/30/2020
WESTHAMPTON – On Sept. 22, the school committees of the Hampshire Regional School District voted unanimously to have Michael Sullivan as their interim superintendent. Sullivan will fill this position until the end of this school year.
After former Superintendent Aaron Osborne resigned, the school committees formed a subcommittee to handle the process of finding an interim superintendent. The subcommittee interviewed five finalists and then narrowed it down to two.
During the Sept. 16 joint school committee meeting, they interviewed the two finalists, Sullivan and William Bazyk. After five hours, the committees had difficulty making a vote.
Some members were concerned that if they chose Sullivan, who recently retired as superintendent of the Gill-Montague Regional School District (GMRSD), he would only be able to work until February due to the retirement rules. Currently, because of the state of emergency that is in effect due to the pandemic, retirees can work without worrying about retirement caps, however, members were concerned about what would happen if or when the state of emergency is lifted.
The members were looking for a waiver from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that would allow him to work the full school year, but a waiver was not granted. After looking at the calendar, he figured out that by spreading out his days, he could make it to June 30, 2021, if necessary. Some members were also concerned that Bazyk was looking for a permanent position.
Westhampton School Committee Chair Brigid O’Riordan said Bazyk backed out shortly after the Sept. 16 meeting. O’Riordan said for a lot of people voting for Sullivan, the fact that he was retired was a deciding factor.
Sullivan retired from his superintendent position at Gill-Montague Regional School District (GMRSD) this June after serving in the position since July 2013.
His resume dates back to January 1985 when he worked with the United States Government Accountability Office. There he worked in the Boston Regional Office, transferred to the Washington, D.C., headquarters, and was voluntarily assigned to Panama City, Panama. He applied a range of auditing, interviewing, and data analysis skills in drafting reports to Congress concerning matters like weapons system capabilities and health care spending.
In 1988, he moved into education and became a social studies teacher in Westmoreland, NH. Two years later, he was a middle school social studies teacher in Northampton Public Schools. In 2004, Sullivan became the Northampton High School’s assistant principal and in 2006 accepted the job as principal at the Glenbrook Middle School in Longmeadow. Five years later, he was elevated to an assistant superintendent position in Longmeadow Public Schools.
Being recently retired, Sullivan said he applied for this interim position because he is interested in assisting the Hampshire Regional School District. Sullivan said he has the right experience for what they need right now. He said also has more time available than he thought he would have due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sullivan said his main focus with the committees is doing a lot of listening and studying to see where they as a district want to go. He will also be helping the district reopen under these conditions.
“After checking his references I am very excited to work with him as our interim superintendent,” O’Riordan said.
She shared that one comment from one of his references stuck with her. The individual said they would hire him and be happy to be hired by him.