NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee plans to cast a wide net in its search for a new superintendent. 

 

Superintendent Barbara Malkas, hired in 2016, will retire at the end of the school year. On Tuesday, she presented her last Superintendent's Award to Drury High senior Colin Daly before the committee launched into a lengthy discussion of how to replace her. 

 

"This singular honor is conferred annually by the superintendent of the North Adams public schools to a Drury High School senior who has distinguished themselves in the pursuit of academic excellence," she said as Daly joined her at the podium at Brayton Elementary School. 

 

He has been inducted into both the Nu Sigma and Pro Merito honor societies, was awarded the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal of Distinction last year, and has received the Principal's Award for having one of the top five averages in his class for four years.

 

Daly has been an integral part of the soccer and basketball teams, has been an altar server at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish for the past nine years, is an active Student Ambassador, and has held a part-time job throughout high school. 

 

"Colin has been an academic leader at Drury throughout his high school career, and his participation in athletics and service to the community demonstrates his commitment to improving himself and helping those around him," said Assistant Superintendent Timothy Callahan. "Colin is an exemplary student and is highly regarded by his peers."

 

Daly, in a statement, said Drury had given him many experiences but what he "enjoyed most was the ability to be what I wanted to be when it came to my education."

 

That included choices and exploration, especially through the early college, he said. "Being able to explore and choose the main parts of your academic life is an incredible opportunity, and one that I am glad to have had here."

 

The School Committee is setting up a screening committee of 17, to be appointed in January, to vet candidates with hopes of having a new school chief for the coming fiscal year. 

 

"While I believe that we're going to have some internal candidates, I think it's important to be transparent with this process because this is one of probably the most important hires we will make," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey. "I think that we do a full, extensive search."

 

Member Richard Alcombright spoke of his experience on past search committees for Northern Berkshire Vocational and North Adams (as mayor).

 

"Both districts had internal candidates ... that probably would qualify," he said. "My point is simply, the north Adams Public Schools have come a tremendously long way for us not to cast a wide net."

 

Some members wondered if the dedication of current employees would better qualify them considering the short terms of some regional superintendents.

 

"Its important for us to cast the net and ensure we're getting the best of the best," said committee member Emily Daunis. "I think we get the best of both worlds by doing an external search, and encouraging internal people to apply." 

 

Member Cody Chamberlain said he assumed that dedication would be taken into consideration if they applied.  

 

The committee also voted to do the search in house with some free technical assistance from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. 

 

MASC had quoted a cost of $11,500 to provide more targeted assistance. Macksey felt strongly outsourcing the search would not helpful in finding a suitable candidate for North Adams. 

 

"I really believe, because this is such an important priority, especially for me, because I work so closely [with the superintendent] that we need to be very hands on with this," she said. 

 

Alcombright said he would like to know what was included in the $11,500 since the search could take an intensive amount of the mayor's time. During the search that hired Malkas, Alcombright said there were a lot of people in the background. 

 

Macksey said she'd led search committee in the past and was confident she and couple other staff members would be able to handle the maybe 20 or 30 applications.  

 

"I'm fully invested in this. I just feel that I want to say an outsider may not pick up on the qualities that are important to us, and while I respect that expertise that they have — free is free," she said. "If we get into it and we can't find other resumes, that's a whole different story."

 

Member Tara Jacobs, who also served on the last search committee, said free assistance from MASC had been valuable and member Alyssa Tomkowicz said, "I think there's something lost in in bringing in an outside consultant — as a former consultant."

 

The committee also agreed that an interim superintendent would not be necessary, though this could be revisited, and that the job would be advertised locally, in state and regionally, but not nationally.

 

"I'm more interested in ensuring that the choices we make in where we choose to advertise give us the best shot at having a diverse pool of applicants," Jacobs said. "I just wanted to insert that as a value that I'd like to see prioritized."

 

The job description will be updated and will incorporate results from a survey that will be sent to the community. Alcombright asked that a introduction to the city and the school district be included, saying "we have to sell ourselves."

 

Member David Sookey expressed concern that 15 people on the screening committee would be unwieldy and difficult to schedule but after some time spent discussing the composition, it was increased by two to 17. 

 

Macksey said meeting dates would be established prior to confirming the members; it would be up to them to determine if they could meet that schedule. 

 

Alcombright asked that a representative for the nonprofessional staff be added and the mayor for a third School Committee member. As chair of the search committee, she was uncomfortable with having only one other committee member. 

 

It was voted to add the mayor as a member and determined not to have those three committee members act as a subcommittee on final recommendations. 

 

The mayor asked for those interested in serving to email her but Chamberlain asked for a straw poll, with Alcombright and Jacobs saying they would defer to a newer member, Tomkowicz that her work schedule wouldn't let her and Emily Daunis that she had to think on it. 

 

Alcombright then nominated Chamberlain and David Sookey, who both had indicated their interest. Jacobs, Daunis and Tomkowicz voted that down, preferring for original proposal to email the mayor. 

 

The committee also approved a timeline that would see a community survey rolling out this month, a selection of finalists by the end of March, time for public input and an announcement by May.