Medford Superintendent Search Committee Announced

MEDFORD, MA – Medford Mayor Stephanie M. Burke on Tuesday announced the members of the Superintendent Search Committee, which will seek out qualified candidates to succeed retiring superintendent Roy Belson. The search is not limited to the Medford public school system, and finalists will be made available for public interviews.

"We had over 70 [Superintendent Search Committee] applicants and it was my goal to produce a diverse committee made up of teachers, parents, administrators and community leaders," Burke said in a statement.

Burke will chair the Search Committee; school committee member Paulette Van der Kloot will serve as vice chair; and Paul Ruseau was named school committee representative.

The following parents will serve on the committee:

• Joanne Bell (Brooks Elementary, Andrews Middle School and Medford High School)
• Jenny Graham (Brooks Elementary School)
• Alexis Rodriguez (Roberts Elementary School)
• Jane Wright (McGlynn Elementary School, McGlynn Middle School, and Medford Vocational Technical High School)
• Melanie McLaughlin (Brooks Elementary and Medford High School), will serve as both a parent and the SEPAC representative

The following teachers have been named to the committee:

• Douglass Bowen-Flynn (Medford High School)
• Sarah Grant (Andrews Middle School)
• Joseph Plati (Columbus Elementary School)

The committee will also consist of administrator Jody Liu (McGlynn Middle School assistant principal); student representative Justin Tseng (Medford High School); and diversity director Neil Osborne.

Parent Doug Nagengast (Roberts Elementary School), school committee member Kathy Kreatz, teacher Larry Brown (Medford Vocational Technical High School) and administrator Bernadette Riccardelli have been selected as alternates.

Burke aims to have candidates available for public interview by the week of March 27. Click this link to participate in the superintendent search survey.

The Superintendent Search Committee schedule is below:

• Wednesday, Feb. 7 will be the first meeting of the Superintendent Search Committee, where the committee will meet with Glenn Koocher from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, (MASC). He will provide the Committee with an orientation session to acclimate the group to the search process.
• Focus group meetings will be held Feb. 14 (internal) and Feb. 15 (parents/guardians, community members) at 7 p.m. at Medford High School.
• Potential interview questions from the Search Committee will be due to the Mayor by Feb. 25.
• Interested candidates for the position of Medford Public School Superintendent must file their applications with the Search Committee by Feb. 28.
• MASC will assist by going through all the applications and presenting them to the Search Committee by March 1.
• The committee will meet on March 6 to select who they would like to interview and finalize the questions they will ask each of the candidates.
• Preliminary interviews of candidates will be conducted from March 10-20 in executive session. The expectation is to recommend finalists to the full school committee by March 21.
• Interviews conducted by the school committee will likely begin around March 27.

"We have set forth an ambitious agenda with the goal of selecting a new superintendent by early April," Burke said in a statement. "The selection process will remain public and transparent. By working together we will be able to select a Superintendent who will continue to move the Medford Public Schools forward."

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