New Danvers School Superintendent Set To Be Named Monday Night

DANVERS, MA — The new leader of Danvers Public Schools is set to be determined Monday night.

Following three days of public interviews, and more than a year since former Superintendent Lisa Dana said she was taking a medical leave that became a retirement in August, the School Committee is set to meet following Monday night's final interview to discuss the three finalists and vote on Dana's successor.

Marblehead High School Principal Daniel Bauer, Medford Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Peter Cushing and Scarborough (Maine) Superintendent Geoff Bruno were chosen as lead candidates out of a finalist field of seven to take over the permanent role that has been vacant since Dana went on medical leave last December.

Mary Wermers has served as an Acting Superintendent of Schools for the past 12 months.

Each finalist was set to be part of a meet-and-greet at Danvers High School before taking part in a public interview.

Cushing was scheduled for last Thursday, Bauer was scheduled for Friday and Bruno is scheduled for Monday.

School Committee member Robin Doherty told Patch that Committee members are scheduled to take a short recess after the Monday night interview and then reconvene and discuss the candidates before voting on an offer to one of them.

Cushing has been the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at Medford Public Schools since 2019. He was previously the Principal at Webster High School and was the high school Vice Principal and middle school Principal in the Narragansett School District. He also taught high school history in Arlington and taught in Lynn Public Schools for four years.

Bauer has been the Principal at Marblehead High School since 2016. He previously served as Beverly High Assistant Principal for 10 years and taught social studies at Masconomet for five years.

Bruno has been the Superintendent in Scarborough since 2021 and was the Falmouth (Maine) Superintendent for seven years. He also has administrative experience in Massachusetts as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction in Saugus for two years and as the Belmonte Middle School Principal for three years. He also worked in Georgetown, Hopkinton and Lawrence.

(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.)