DALTON, Mass. — Central Berkshire Regional School Committee won't have to go far to find a new superintendent. 

 

The four finalists for the post are all from Berkshire County.

 

They are Michael Henault, current assistant superintendent for Central Berkshire; John Franzoni, superintendent of the Northern Berkshire School Union; and Matthew Bishop, interim deputy superintendent for the Pittsfield Public Schools.

 

Timothy Callahan, assistant superintendent for the North Adams Public Schools, was also put forward as a finalist and, per the committee chair on Monday, had been expected to continue through the interview process. Callahan informed iBerkshires that he had withdrawn from consideration on Monday but this apparently did not reach the School Committee. He is the only candidate put forward for the position of superintendent in North Adams and will be interviewed for that post on Thursday at 6 p.m. at City Hall. 

 

Richard Peters, chair of the Personnel subcommittee, said his panel had interviewed five candidates and brought these four forward. 

 

Their names were revealed after the School Committee had spent some time debating the usefulness of making site visits in addition to in-person interviews. Despite Peters saying they were all from the Berkshires, the vote was tied.

 

After their names were released, the vote was 9-4 to dismiss the idea.  

 

The committee did agree on two nights of interviews, April 2 and 3, which will be held in person in open session. The candidates will have the opportunity to visit the district and meet with staff on the days of their interviews. 

 

"We need to put together questions, and all the questions will be predetermined, and they're going to be exactly the same for the finalists through the entire process," said Peters. "We can't have it as a Zoom meeting, because candidates could watch the Zoom meeting, and it wouldn't be fair to the other candidates."

 

Committee members discussed how they would determine the candidate questions. Peters suggested they send him what they wanted to ask and the whole committee would meet prior to the first interview to select them. 

 

"This is a great group of people, but also I highly doubt that we would be able to, in a timely manner, come to a decision on, you know, cut a set of questions down to what we're looking for right before our first interview," said committee member Charlotte Crane. "I would think that it would make sense to hold like an executive session on a separate night and develop those questions."

 

Peters said the questions would have to be formulated in open session.

 

One option was for members to pick from a broad list recommended by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, which has been facilitating the search; another was to use the main topics from the superintendent evaluation process. 

 

Committee member Jake Eberwein asked about checking references. Peters said MASC handled the backgrounds checks but Eberwein thought it important for committee members to do it. 

 

"I don't know that they could translate a conversation," he said. "I think we should be doing it."

 

Member David Stuart expressed concern over internal letters of support already received on behalf of Henault and the confidentiality of search process. 

 

"I have some concerns about the process, specifically the integrity of the process," he said. "Because we're sitting here pretending like we didn't know who the candidates were until we got our pamphlet."

 

He said he respected Heneault's integrity and honesty, and it was good that so many people liked him, but he was concerned there were letters being circulated before the finalists were even announced.

 

"I think it taints the process. I'll be honest, and I don't think it looks good," he said. "This is the most important, second most important thing we do. The other one was the budget."

 

Henault, who was attending the meeting, said it was no secret in the district has he had publicly announced his intentions to apply months ago. 

 

"I've been very open about my desire to work here and I think everybody knew that I was applying for this position," he said. 

 

The successful candidate will replace Leslie Blake-Davis, who is retiring at the end of the school year after 14 years with Central Berkshire, the last five as superintendent.