Reflections On The Superintendent Search - Editorial
Many likely heard the chatter about the school community’s discontent with the district’s superintendent search process. Discussion caught our attention in community Facebook groups over the last few weeks, but the alarm cranked up a few notches when we learned that a member of the Mashpee School Committee and its Superintendent Search Screening Committee recused herself from candidate interviews earlier this week as a result.
As the week comes to a close, we find ourselves with mixed feelings—happy that the committee moved forward with one of the three very qualified candidates presented, but at the same time, a little uneasy about the process and how its outcome will land with community members.
We were worried that a superintendent selection would not go forward as scheduled, but school committee chairman Don Myers adhered to the plan. At the same time, though, we understand the frustration of many parents and other school community members about the search process, and wonder if the committee should have pumped the brakes and arranged for another opportunity to hash things out.
The process did feel somewhat rushed—the individual candidate forums scheduled for last week and the week prior were not held as originally announced; instead, all three candidates attended a Q&A on Monday, and the committee’s decision was voted on a little more than 48 hours later. If your brain feels scrambled by that timeline, we can’t blame you—we felt we barely had enough time to provide comprehensive coverage of all that happened at Monday’s meeting before Wednesday’s decision was made.
Member Kelly Robson did the townspeople a service in speaking up on their behalf at Monday’s meeting; as an elected official, she did the right thing for her constituents. The meeting was held at a not-so-accessible time—3:50 PM on a Monday—and several people in a community Facebook forum said they were interested, but unable to attend due to the timing. It is a shame, really.
The general malcontent seems to center around the community’s reverence for a former school administrator that many seem to want as the head of the district. We don’t know if the administrator in question even applied for the job—he is reportedly employed elsewhere—but Mashpee’s concerned parents did have a spokesperson on Wednesday in the form of Victoria Haire, whose comments were, we think, spot-on when it came to addressing the troubling narrative that seems to lurk behind the air of dissatisfaction.
Many involved in the conversation, especially online, seemed wholly uninterested in getting to know any of the three candidates presented by the search committee on account of being hung up on a past administrator. This was upsetting and, as Ms. Haire put it, “dismissing these women’s qualifications simply because the outcome was not what some wanted is shortsighted, irresponsible and devalues the work of each person on that list.”
While many may be unhappy with the outcome, what is done seems to be done—pending contract negotiations, of course. Michele Conners, the committee’s pick for head of the district, seems fully qualified on paper, and has made a positive impression on both the committee and the district’s students, which is why she was selected.
It remains to be seen how the larger Mashpee community will react to the selection and what, if anything, will change between now and July. If enough parents continue to react negatively, the entire process will be throw into question, if it hasn’t been already.
We are looking forward to seeing Dr. Conners’ entry into the district, and we wish her the best of luck.