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Date: 3/6/2024
SPRINGFIELD — At its Feb. 29 meeting, the Springfield School Committee voted to approve a modified superintendent search timeline and hybrid model.
With the approved timeline, applications for the screening committee will be open from March 4-18. Members of the committee will then be chosen by the full School Committee during a special meeting on March 20, the committee decided. The screening committee will include 13 members.
With this schedule, the chosen three to five finalists for the superintendent search would be publicly announced on May 9, School Committee member Christopher Collins told Reminder Publishing. This follows the screening committee’s work to review candidates, which will not be public in order to maintain applicant’s right to privacy, Collins stated during the meeting.
This superintendent search process began after current Superintendent Daniel Warwick announced on Jan. 29 that he would retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year. The timeline and hybrid model modified by the School Committee on Feb. 29 was initially discussed by an Ad Hoc Superintendent Selection Committee established on Feb 8.
During the Feb. 29 meeting, the School Committee discussed multiple concerns related to the search’s timeline, including whether the School Department should utilize an interim superintendent and how long a superintendent search typically lasts.
Another concern that was raised during the meeting was whether the timeline was “rushed.” According to School Committee members, concerns about the speed of the search were brought to them by individual residents before the meeting. However, these views were further highlighted by a “community speak out” which took place 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting and was organized by the Pioneer Valley Project. The event was located in front of Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, where the School Committee’s meeting occurred, and featured Springfield students and residents.
At the speak out, multiple people argued that an outside legal firm was a better choice than using the Springfield Public Schools’ Legal Services Office or a hybrid model. Others called for a national search or stated that a longer search was acceptable, if thorough and led to the best candidate. These comments were later raised by committee members during discussion of the hybrid model.
Following the lengthy discussion, the School Committee voted to approve a hybrid search model which utilized Massachusetts Association of School Committees Executive Director Glenn Koocher and the legal services of Bulkley Richardson.
This decision was modified from the screening committee’s original recommendation to use the legal services of the Springfield Public Schools Legal Services Office, which includes Chief Legal Counsel Melinda Phelps, who assisted the department with the previous superintendent search, as stated during the meeting.
Proposed by Vice Chair Joesiah Gonzalez, the amended decision was designed to address residents’ concerns that the Legal Services Office’s involvement would create bias.
The motion was supported by all members except Mayor Domenic Sarno, who serves as the committee chair and stated that, “there seems to be an innuendo here that something underhanded is going to go on [with SPS Legal Service Office].” He highlighted that something could happen with an outside legal firm as well.
With MASC’s resources, Springfield’s search will be national and utilize superintendent-specific search sites, social media and colleges. The committee’s decision to use a hybrid model, which does not use the full services of MASC, is not uncommon and used by 1/3 of the organization’s members, Koocher said.
He also highlighted that the search would not exclude local candidates and that, regardless of what support the School Department receives with the search, Warwick’s “honorable retirement” was an attractive environment for superintendent candidates.
“People will know across the country that Springfield, Massachusetts, is looking for a superintendent,” Koocher said.
Springfield did not use a hybrid model during the previous superintendent search, but instead used the full services of MASC along with attorneys from Bulkley Richardson, as stated during the meeting.
In addition to the timeline and hybrid model, the School Committee also approved the superintendent application for candidates with minor adjustments.