School Committee Looks to Spend Less than $25,000 on Firm to Help Search for Watertown's Next Superintendent

The School Committee hopes to spend less than $25,000 on a consultant to will help them find Watertown's next superintedent, and decided on the make up of the committee that will do the first interviews of candidates Monday night.

The School Committee will hire a firm to help find superintendent candidates, but to expedite the process they hope to hire a firm through a process where Watertown school officials must only get quotes from three firms.

Going that route, a firm could be hired as quickly as three weeks, said School Committee member David Leon, who is part of the Superintendent Search Subcommittee.

Going other routes, which would be required if the contract cost more than $25,000, would take significantly longer.

"The search that led do the hiring of (former Watertown Superintendent) Steve Hiersche had an RFP (request for proposal)," Leon said. "That took three months and cost $60,000."

The Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) offers a packages for member districts — including Watertown — conduct a search that would cost $8,500, Leon said.

Recently, Waltham found a new superintendent and Belmont found an interim superintendent using the MASC's help.

Besides the faster timeline, School Committee member Eileen Hsu-Balzer said she prefers the lower cost method.

"I don't want to spend a lot of money, because we don't have a lot," Hsu-Balzer said. "There are a number of factors, including time."

Hsu-Balzer said she worries that if Watertown spends too much time finding a firm, they may miss out on candidates to other towns looking for a superintendent, such as Wellesley and Norfolk.

Interim Human Resources Director Ray Shurtleff will put together a list of firms from which to get quotes.

Search Commmittee

When the firm comes up with candidates, the first group to screen the people will be the Superintendent Search Committee. The group will have 10 members, including a parent from each of the five Watertown schools: the high school, the middle school and Hosmer, Lowell and Cunniff elementary schools.

The search committee will also include two teachers, one administrator, a Watertown citizen at large who does not have a child in the school system, and one high school student.

Originally, the Superintendent Search Subcommittee had recommended nine members on the Search Committee, with three parents and two citizens at large. Choosing parents from only three of the five schools would be too difficult, so School Committee Chairman Tony Paolillo suggested altering the makeup of the Search Committee.

The parents will be selected by the PTO of each of the five schools.

The teachers will be chosen by the Watertown Educators Association and the high school student by High School Head Master Steve Watson. For the citizen at large, Town Council President Mark Sideris (who sits on the School Committee) proposed asking for suggestions from a community group such as the Watertown Education Foundation, the Watertown Community Foundation or the League of Women Voters.

NOTE: The original version incorrectly stated that School Committee members Eileen Hsu-Balzer and Laurie McManus would select the parents to participate in the Superintendent Screening Committee.