Middle school employees and families will have an opportunity today, June 19, to meet three finalists for the interim Amherst Regional Middle School principal position.
The three candidates are Joseph Smith, Roberto Soto and Rebecca Sweetman.
Smith was previously a Crocker Farm Elementary School assistant principal and the principal of Leeds Elementary School before most recently serving as director of pupil services at Springfield’s Baystate Academy Charter Public School. Soto briefly worked as a bilingual special education paraprofessional in Amherst in 1999 before becoming a bilingual science and math teacher in Worcester, and most recently, a high school assistant principal in Southbridge. Sweetman is a longtime educator in Southbridge who was an English language arts teacher before becoming middle school principal during her 11 years in that district.
The interim principal will serve in the position for two years, after which the district intends to name a permanent principal.
The three candidates will meet with faculty and staff in the Amherst Regional Middle School library beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, after which they will take part in community meetings.
The community meetings will begin with Smith at 5 p.m. in the middle school library, followed by Sweetman at 5:45 p.m. and Soto at 6:30 p.m.
The search for a middle school principal comes amid scrutiny of the district over its hiring practices after Superintendent Michael Morris passed up on two previous candidates for the position. A member of the search committee called that decision discriminatory because the two candidates were people of color with valid administrative licenses.
In the wake of that decision, the district, which includes Leverett and Shutesbury, has implemented changes to their search committee practices to improve public confidence in the process.