Danvers School Culture, Communication A Focus For Next Superintendent

DANVERS, MA — A commitment to improve school culture, address equity, inclusion and racism in the schools and increase two-way communication with teachers and parents were among the priorities identified for the next Danvers superintendent as part of the preliminary search process.

Massachusetts Association of School Committee representative Dorothy Presser outlined some of the results from the 484 respondents to an online survey and from the 78 who attended focus groups designed to create parameters for an ideal candidate.

"The upshot was that the next leader really needs to address school and district culture," Presser told the School Committee on Monday night. "And to be a communicator who is able to build back that culture.

"Also, someone who had a strong background in curricular and instruction who is able to address some of the academic issues. People wanted to make sure that the person has a good background in the classroom. That it wasn't someone who had a year in the classroom and just sort of shot through to the top. That it is someone who has a good feeling of what it's like to be a teacher now."

Beyond the academic and licensing credentials, Presser said the "Danvers-specific" aspects of the objectives for the position set to be posted are: "Excellent communicator who can build a culture of trust; a leadership and communication style that is dynamic, visible, accessible and inclusive; a demonstrated ability to develop and lead a successful administrative team; demonstrated track record of valuing and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in students, staff and community; success in improving and maintaining high academic performance; and understanding and recognition of good teaching."

School Committee members Alice Campbell and Robin Doherty worked with Presser and the MASC to develop the focus groups and criteria for an ideal candidate.

"It was eye-opening for me in a lot of cases," Campbell said. "We have a lot of trust to rebuild from teachers. But I think we've got a lot of opportunities. There was just a lot of optimism coming through, which gave me a lot of hope."

The next step along with officially posting the opening includes creating a "steering committee" that will review applications, select semifinalists and then conduct interviews to determine finalist candidates that are then presented to the School Committee.

The School Committee has set a timeline to choose a new superintendent that concludes toward the end of January. Mary Wermers has been serving as either co-acting or acting superintendent since Lisa Dana went out on medical leave in December 2021 and resigned from her position effective in August.

The steering committee is set to include two School Committee members, the president of the Danvers Teachers Association, three parents, three teachers, one central office staff member, one principal, one support staff member and one community member.

The School Committee will choose the parents and one community member from those who apply. The individual stakeholder groups will choose their own representatives from those who apply.

(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.)