New Cranston Superintendent to be Appointed; Parents Surprised at Lack of Search

On July 1, Cranston Public Schools will have a new superintendent. And it might be the current assistant superintendent, Jeannine Nota-Masse.

The School Committee on Tuesday will meet and on its agenda is a resolution that would give Nota-Masse the job, replacing outgoing Superintendent Judith Lundsten, who is retiring at the end of the school year after a long career in Cranston.

While it’s not uncommon for the outgoing superintendent’s successor to take the helm — Lundsten herself was assistant superintendent when her predecessor, Peter Nero, left the district for a job in Connecticut — this time, there was no superintendent search, no job posting, no search committee and little public discussion about who next will lead Cranston schools before the agenda was posted on Sunday.

The posting of the agenda took many by surprise. Comments on the BASICS Facebook Page ranged from confusion to consternation.

“My issue is not with Mrs. Nota-Masse. My issue is with the school committee, specifically you both, as my elected officials, for not performing any search, or even posting this position,” wrote Kerri Kelleher in an email to School Committee members. “When Nero retired, the school committee searched for, and interviewed, several candidates. Ultimately, Lundsten was the most qualified. The process was relatively straightforward and transparent.

“This time around, one interview, of one internal candidate. Lundsten’s search was three years ago - to blindly assume that there are no qualified candidates, based on those search results, is unfair to our students, parents, faculty, staff, AND Mrs. Nota-Masse,” Kelleher said.

Lundsten announced her retirement in January.

Nota-Masse has been assistant superintendent since Sept. 2012. She holds a masters of education from Providence College and was graduated from Rhode Island College with a bachelor of arts in English in 1993.

Nota-Masse was assistant principal of academic affairs at Cranston High School East until 2008 when she became principal at East Greenwich High School. She led that school for two years before coming back to Cranston in 2010 as a central office administrator.