Superintendent Search Committee Defends Decision to Choose One Finalist

WEYMOUTH, MA - The Weymouth superintendent search committee is defending the decision to send the school committee only one candidate for a finalist interview.

In late March, Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Curtis-Whipple was chosen by the superintendent search committee as the only finalist for the position. 22 people applied for the job.

Committee Chairwoman Kate McCulley told the Boston Globe that the group was instructed by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to not put forward any candidates as finalists that they did not feel comfortable as their next superintendent.

School committee members and Mayor Robert Hedlund have criticized the decision. Hedlund commented that the search committee "is in effect choosing the next Weymouth superintendent."

The next superintendent will succeed Kenneth Salim, who is leaving at the end of the school year to become the Cambridge Superintendent of Schools.

Curtis-Whipple's finalist interview with the School Committee is scheduled for April 26.