Wilmington Names Four Finalists For School Superintendent Opening

WILMINGTON, MA -- The school committee named four finalists to be the next superintendent of Wilmington Public Schools Wednesday night. The district had received 23 applications, which were whittled down by a screening committee made up of school committee members, parents and staff and faculty. The candidates will each be invited for a two-day interview.

The finalists are:

• Glenn Brand, the former Superintendent of Acton-Boxborough Regional School District
• Nan Murphy, who is currently Director of Accountability & School Improvement for Lowell Public Schools
• Patricia Lambright-White, theAssistant Superitnendent of Pupil Personnel Services at Melrose Public Schools
• Michael Wood, the Director of Student Services, Leicester Public Schools

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.

Two years ago, Lambright-White applied for but not get the superintendent's job in Tewksbury. In Melrose, she has been the Title VI coordinator for the district. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds or other Federal financial assistance.

In 2015, Wood resigned as superintendent of schools for the Nashoba Regional School District. At Worcester Telegram article at the time reported that minutes from executive sessions showed that school committee members were concerned about several operational aspects, including the Wood rolling allowances into salaries after the committee had explicitly told him not to, as well as agreements negotiated by the superintendent without committee approval. There were also disputes on control and policy.

Final interviews with the school committee are tentatively scheduled for February 7 and 12. The committee hopes to finalize a decision by early March and have the new superintendent in place by July 1.

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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).