Watertown Public Schools Hires Former Wilmington Superintendent

WATERTOWN, MA — Former Wilmington Superintendent Mary DeLai has landed an administrative role with Watertown Public Schools a month after her dismissal following an OUI arrest over the summer.

Watertown Public Schools announced this week that DeLai has taken over as the district's Interim Business Manager role. DeLai had served the Wilmington Public Schools since 2014, and Superintendent Dr. John Brackett lauded her business management experience in numerous public, non-profit and private settings.

While not mentioning DeLai's August arrest and dismissal in his statement specifically, Brackett assured the WPS community that he was confident in DeLai's abilities.

"As with any hire, but especially with a position as critical as chief business official, we conducted a very thorough reference check and fully vetted prior experiences," Brackett wrote in his statement.

The superintendent had recently begun her third school year at the helm of Wilmington Public Schools. She was presented with the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials, Inc. (MASBO) President's Award in June, given to an an individual who has contributed to the growth and improvement of MASBO.

DeLai made headlines prior to the news of her arrest over the handling of domestic violence allegations against Wilmington High Sschool physical education teacher Anthony Altieri. Altieri was permitted to return to work one week after he was arrested on domestic assault charges in Essex on Sept. 11.

A petition urging the school committee to take a vote of no confidence against DeLai began accumulating signatures in regards to the superintendent's handling of the situation. Selectman Greg Bendel also expressed his disappointment in the superintendent's failure to communicate with town officials before communicating with the public.

DeLai resigned in October.

In his statement, Brackett lauded DeLai's work with the Reading Public Schools, as well as her work with MASBO.

"I am confident that Mary Delai’s long history of successful school business leadership, skill-set in a myriad of areas of business, finance and operations, and her deep understanding of the interrelatedness of budget and educational programming, will make her a real asset to our leadership team and district," wrote Brackett.

>>Image: Wilmington Community TV Screenshot

Joe Lipovich (Patch Staff) contributed to this report