Stoughton Down To 4 Candidates For Superintendent

STOUGHTON, MA — Four candidates for superintendent were named finalist by the district's search committee. The position is open following Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi's pending retirement at the end of the year.

The finalists are former East Haven, Connecticut Superintendent Portia Selene Bonner, Monomoy Regional High School Principal William Burkhead, Sharon Public Schools Assistant Superintendent John Marcus and Stoughton High School Principal Juliette Miller.

"Each of these individuals has a unique background and set of experiences that would serve the district well," School Committee Chair Molly Cochran said. "I know the whole School Committee looks forward to evaluating and meeting with the candidates to determine which one would be the best fit for our district in the years to come."

Bonner served as the superintendent of the East Haven Public Schools from 2013-2017, and previously served as superintendent in New Bedford. She has worked in education since 1990, serving as an adjunct professor, teacher and administrator. She also works as an independent consultant.

Burkhead has served as the principal of Monomoy Regional High School in Harwich since 2014, and previously served as an administrator and athletic director in Plymouth and New Bedford. He began his career as a physical education teacher in Franklin and then worked in Kingston and Canton. While in Plymouth, he was the Plymouth North High School football coach. Burkhead was named the 2018 Massachusetts high school principal of the year.

Marcus has worked as an administrator at the elementary and district levels in multiple districts, including Stoughton and Sharon. He gained his classroom teaching experience at the Milton Academy, Bridgewater State University, Camp Academy in Stoughton, Zervas School in Newton and the Martin Luther King Jr. Open School in Cambridge.

Miller first worked in the Stoughton Public School District in 2001, when she started as a math teacher at Stoughton High School. Prior to starting that role, she worked as a math teacher and math, science and business director at St. Clare High School in Roslindale. She took on the role of high school mathematics director in 2003. She was then an administrator at King Philip Regional High School and later, Apponequet Regional High School. Miller returned to Stoughton as principal in 2012.

Public interviews with the school committee will begin in January.

Photo by Jimmy Bentley