L-S School Committee Dismisses Notion of Joint K-12 Superintendent

At a meeting of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District (LSRSD) Committee on Tuesday, members decided to proceed independently with their search for a superintendent/principal for the high school.

An alternate proposal to consolidate the superintendent roles for Sudbury Public Schools (SPS), which comprises grades K-8, and the high school had been floated by Sudbury's Budget Review Task Force as a possible cost-saving measure.

SPS superintendent John Brackett recently announced that he will retire at the end of the school year. Meanwhile, the two-year contract for the high school's current superintendent/principal, Scott Carpenter, also expires in June.

"I don't find the concept of a shared superintendent a workable model," said committee chair Mark Collins.  "It seems to me it presents more problems than it solves. What I would hope is that this committee would disregard this as an option going forward."

Other members concurred, citing an unmanageable workload and the complexity of working for two different school districts as chief concerns. One LSRSD committee member also felt that the measure wouldn't go far enough in terms of integrating Sudbury's two school districts.

"To me, an integrated K-12 would be the optimum model," said member Kevin Matthews. "Hiring a joint superintendent seems to be consolidation light – it would just be sticking out(a) toe in the water. Without the support of Sudbury Public Schools, there's hardly a reason to discuss it."

The committee's next steps will be to review a report that is due from consultant Jackie Roy, who has been hired by the LSRSD committee to assist in its superintendent search, and to hold a meeting to solicit public comment. A decision from the committee on whether to negotiate exclusively with Scott Carpenter or conduct a wider search is expected by early November.  

Other orders of business at Tuesday's meeting included the dissemination of preliminary enrollment information for the current school year. Enrollment at the high school stands at 1,609, which is a very slight decline. A completed report will investigate the numbers in more depth, including an explanation of why approximately 50 students chose private schools or other options over L-S Regional High School this year.

Teachers' Association President Rami Alwan also reported on heavy use of the school's library. Alwan attributed this partially to an expansion of the library's hours, made possible by the Education Jobs Fund.

Finally, a list of current recognitions was read to highlight students and faculty who have given back to the community or who have made significant achievements academically. Of note, the high school reported five semifinalists and 35 commended students in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Competition, which places them in the top 1 percent and 5 percent of the nation's students, respectively.