Avon BOE to Interview Final Assistant Superintendent Candidate

It is possible that the Avon Board of Education will vote to appoint the new assistant superintendent Monday night after interviewing the finalist candidate in its special meeting, according to Superintendent of Schools Gary Mala. 

"One candidate has emerged to present to the board for their consideration," Mala said. "I have to inquire of the board whether or not they would feel comfortable acting on it that evening or they want to wait. I don't know that yet.... I'm hopeful that they're going to act."

The Board of Education will almost immediately go into executive session at its Dec. 12 special meeting to interview the final candidate. The public will be asked to leave the room during executive session. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Avon High School Community Room.

The Oct. 29 snowstorm delayed the search process, as Mala's initial for appointing a new assistant superintendent was Nov. 19.

"It put us off by probably almost three weeks," Mala said. "Two weeks while we were out and a week to get reorganized and to get the organization moving."

Otherwise, the process has run smoothly.

"This has been a very comprehensive process," Mala said. "I'm very appreciative of the time the committee members put into this. They did an excellent job at reviewing exceptional candidates."

Of the 23 people that applied for the job by the Aug. 5 deadline, the search committee chose nine to interview. Six advanced beyond round one interviews and two semifinalist candidates were interviewed on Nov. 21.

"That was the final interview, but then the committee met again to consider all the pieces because of the writing samples, recommendations and responses to four rounds, really," Mala said. "Three have interviewed with the committee and one session was with me."

The interview committee chose the final candidate on Dec. 1 for consideration.

The new assistant superintendent will replace Jody Goeler, who is now superintendent in Region 14, which serves Bethlehem and Woodbury students.

An official new target date for hiring the next assistant superintendent has not been determined yet.

In the meantime, Paula Schwartz is serving as interim assistant superintendent, a position she held while Goeler filled in as acting superintendent before Mala was hired.