Marblehead Interim Superintendent Finalists Make Their Cases To Lead District

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The two finalists for the Marblehead interim superintendent positions each got to provide their visions for leading the district into next year until a permanent superintendent can be hired during public interviews with the School Committee on Monday night.

Dr. Theresa McGuinness and Dr. Jannell D. Pearson-Campbell each talked for about an hour answering questions from the School Committee on topics ranging from looming budget concerns to raising standardized test scores and student achievement to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The School Committee recessed for a short time after the second interview and decided to conduct reference checks of both finalists over the next few days before a potential vote on the interim superintendent at Thursday's meeting. Chair Sarah Fox said that if a decision cannot be reached Thursday she would look to schedule a special school committee next week to vote to extend an offer.

Both candidates cited good communication with staff and families as a key to success in leading a district that has been divided in recent months over a failed tax override to restore 30 equivalent position cuts in the district and the negotiated resignation of John Buckey earlier this summer following the override vote.

McGuinness, who lives in Swampscott, was the principal of the Village School in Marblehead from
2012 through 2016 before leaving for Watertown Public Schools, where she has been the assistant superintendent for the past seven years.

"I believe the first and foremost thing is building trust in leadership," McGuinness said of addressing the most pressing needs in the district. "I really believe in my heart that the teachers are doing as great as they always do with the students but it's hard to be sustainable when you don't have a leader or leadership group that is supporting you in the work.

"The biggest thing is building the relationship between the School Committee and the interim superintendent so that trickles down to our schools and to our teachers and our staff. It also helps to alleviate that fear of uncertainty."

McGuinness said next comes the budget and upcoming negotiations with the teacher unions.

McGuinness also shared that if selected as interim superintendent she would like to be considered for the permanent role when that search process begins this winter.

Pearson-Campbell was the assistant director of special education at the Waltham Public Schools from 2015 through 2020 and has since served as the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning at Old Rochester and interim superintendent at Northampton Public Schools.

She told the School Committee that she is a person who believes in accentuating the positive and bringing people together through as much face-to-face communication as possible.

"No. 1 is making sure that students are at the center of every decision that you are making," she said of the most pressing issues facing Marblehead. "No. 2 is ensuring that the community has a role in that conversation in that they feel they are a part of this."

She noted some of the public who attended the interviews at the Marblehead High Library and how she viewed their vocal passion — which included some verbal sparring with members of the School Committee before the interviews — for the interim superintendent search process as a positive thing.

"It's good that they feel their voice matters," she said. "You have to think about how you create a budget that is feasible and that supports our students. ... I try to plan a budget that includes a five-year window so that there is stability here. You want to ensure that kids are still going to continue to learn, that the staff can feel supported and that we're moving on together.

"The other piece is that there is a sense of belonging — belonging in the district. If a student feels like they belong that also helps with academic achievement because they know that they have strength, they know that they are prepared for the world, that they are supported."

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