After two closed meetings last week, the superintendent search subcommittee for the Pioneer Valley Regional School District has narrowed its applicant pool to four “good, viable” candidates, said School Committee Chairwoman Pat Shearer, who sits on the subcommittee.
She did not provide the names of the four candidates.
Shearer said the subcommittee will likely conduct the first round of interviews in the next two weeks. These interviews will not be open to the public. The subcommittee plans to select two candidates from the pool of four, who will then be interviewed by the full School Committee and public at its next meeting. The full committee will then vote on the two candidates. That meeting is set May 24 at 7 p.m. at Pearl Rhodes Elementary School in Leyden and is open to the public.
Shearer said that the criteria the subcommittee used to narrow its field of applicants were “pretty generic,” but included experience as a teacher and superintendent certification. Alan Genovese, a Warwick resident and Winchester, N.H. school district superintendent, assisted the subcommittee in formulating the criteria and the questions that will be asked in interviews. Genovese is no longer involved, Shearer said.
Shearer said the district is seeking an interim superintendent. The contract will be for one year, but may be extended to two.
The position will be a part-time job. Ruth Miller serves as both superintendent and business manager for the district. Her expected departure this summer prompted questions of whether the district may be better served by hiring two part-time workers to fill those two jobs.
Miller’s departure has also prompted talk of further regionalizing the district so that certain administrative positions may be shared by Pioneer and another local district. Shearer said that these discussions are ongoing, and that hiring an interim superintendent will allow the committee to continue to explore its options through the next year or two.
The committee would prefer that the new business manager be full time rather than part time, Shearer said, but must further review the budget before making a decision.