Concord Receives 4 Bids For Superintedent Search

CONCORD, MA—The Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee may look to a search firm in the hope of finding its next superintendent.

According to a report by Wicked Local Concord, the committee has received four bids from search firms wanting the job to help find a new superintendent. School Committee Chairwoman Johanna Boynton announced at Feb. 23’s school committee meeting that her and other committee members drafted the request for proposal to solicit bids from search firms and opened the submissions before February break.

Henry Schwan, who broke the story on Wicked Local Concord’s website, reports:

According to Boynton, the trio unanimously supports two of the candidates and is currently conducting background checks. Deputy School Superintendent John Flaherty said two of the submissions did not meet the full requirements for consideration.

Boynton said one final candidate will be recommended to the entire Regional School Committee on March 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ripley building, before the start of the scheduled Concord School Committee meeting.

The Regional School Committee will vote on the recommendation at its March 22 meeting, and Boynton believes a firm will be on board in the spring to start the work of helping the town hire its next superintendent.

Superintendent Diana Rigby announced in September 2015 that she is retiring at the conclusion of her contract on June 30, 2017.

The firm that is hired will help form an evaluation committee that will shape what Concord and Carlisle wants in its next superintendent. Input will come from community forums, which will result in an evaluation committee of parents, teachers, students, residents and some school committee and school department members.

According to Schwan’s report, the committee hopes to have a new superintendent in place by January 2017, in hopes that the new person will have six months adjust to the position before taking over for Rigby later that July.