How To Meet The Candidates For Wilmington's Next Superintendent

WILMINGTON, MA -- Two of the four finalists to become the next superintendent of Wilmington Public Schools will be in town for meet-and-greet events on Wednesday. Glenn Brand, the former Superintendent of Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, and Nan Murphy, who is currently Director of Accountability & School Improvement for Lowell Public Schools, will be available to meet parents, students and residents at an open forum Wednesday afternoon before their interview with the school committee Wednesday evening.

The schedule for meeting Brand is as follows:

• 4:00pm – 4:45pm: Wilmington Community Open Forum, Wilmington High School Library
• 7:00pm – 8:30pm: Interview with School Committee – Wilmington High School Large Group Instruction Room
• 8:30pm – 9:15pm: Community Reception, Wilmington High School Library

Murphy will follow a similar schedule Wednesday:

• 3:30pm – 4:00pm: Wilmington Community Open Forum, Wilmington High School Library
• 7:15pm – 8:30pm: Community Reception, Wilmington High School Library
• 8:30pm – 10:00pm: Interview with School Committee – Wilmington High School Large Group Instruction Room

The remaining two candidates, Patricia Lambright-White, the Assistant Superitnendent of Pupil Personnel Services at Melrose Public Schools and Michael Wood, the Director of Student Services for Leicester Public Schools, will be scheduled for similar meet-and-greet events and interviews next week on Feb. 12. Additionally, school committee interviews of each candidate are open to the public and will be broadcast on local public access television.

The school committee is also soliciting feedback of the candidates through a short, online survey.

The school committee announced the four finalists last week. Brand recently interviewed for the superintendent's job in Lexington. That town chose Taunton Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett over Brand and another finalist. Brand left Acton-Boxborough last year to "educational and operational philosophies" that were "not aligned," the regional school committee, according to minutes from an executive session that were made public under the Massachusetts Public Records law. Brand, according to an article last year in the Acton Forum, seems to have been forced to resign by a coalition of school committee members who created a "toxic working environment."

Murphy has mostly gotten rave reviews for her work in Lowell. Before being named to her position, which was new to the district, she was principal at McAuliffe Elementary School in the Lowell's Christian Hill neighborhood. She and her staff were credited with helping bring the school from level 3 to level 1 under state performance guidelines.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).