Danvers New School Superintendent Search About To Heat Up

DANVERS, MA — The Danvers School Committee plans to pick a new permanent superintendent of schools within a little more than four months according to a timeline laid out at Monday's School Committee meeting.

School Committee members Robin Doherty and Alice Campbell — who have been working with a consultant to develop a profile for the proper candidate — said on Monday that there will be opportunities for the school community to weigh in on priorities for the next superintendent in the next month before the position is advertised.

Applications are set to be due on Dec. 2 with a screening committee identifying semifinals and finalists by Dec. 20, the finalists presented to the School Committee by Jan. 9, 2023, and a vote to make an offer to a chosen candidate scheduled by the end of January.

The search is to replace Lisa Dana, who officially retired in August after taking a medical leave of absence in December 2021. Assistant Superintendent Mary Wermers has been serving as either co-acting superintendent or acting superintendent since that time.

"The purpose of the consultant is because we want community feedback to really create the profile for the kind of superintendent that we want next," Doherty said.

Doherty said that profile will be created through surveys and focus groups over the next few weeks. She said those will be advertised in the weekly newsletter, on town websites and through the local media.

"We probably won't be at those focus groups because the objective is that we don't want the School Committee to determine what people say or influence them in any way," Doherty said.

Campbell and Doherty assured the consultant group is helping establish parameters for the search — not steer the Committee toward particular candidates.

"This is our search," Campbell said. "There is no hidden agenda. This is no one trying to pick someone from the district with political motives."

Doherty said the School Committee will be "looking to advertise" ways the community can be involved with the search and Campbell said it will seek members of the community to be involved with the Screening Committee — which will review credentials and determine the list of finalists to be presented to the full School Committee to consider.

Those interested in being part of the Screening Committee were encouraged to reach out to Doherty and Campbell directly.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)