AMESBURY — The School Committee is looking for a new superintendent and is reaching out for the public’s help.
Former Superintendent Jared Fulgoni resigned in October after two years on the job. Amesbury High School Principal Elizabeth McAndrews was named acting superintendent and the committee set out to find a permanent replacement.
Committee members Maryann Welch and Abigail Jurist Levy co-chair the superintendent search committee, which is working with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees as a search consultant.
The city is looking for community members to serve on a preliminary screening committee expected to review applications and interview semifinalists. The screening committee would then recommend finalists to the School Committee, according to a press release from Mayor Kassandra Gove’s office.
The preliminary screening committee is to be made up of a dozen people representing various groups and will include two School Committee members, a central office administrator, a school principal, three staff members, three parents, a community member at large and an Amesbury High School graduate from the Class of 2018, 2019 or 2020.
The School Committee is expected to name the preliminary screening committee members Feb. 22 and they are scheduled to meet for the first time March 24 at 7 p.m.
Members would need to meet at night on some or all of the following dates: Thursday, April 1; Tuesday, April 6; Wednesday, April 7; Thursday, April 8; Monday, April 12; Tuesday, April 13; and Wednesday, April 14.
Those interested in joining the committee can submit letters of interest to the administrative assistant to the superintendent, Daniel Grayton, via email at [email protected] or by mail at 5 Highland St., Amesbury, MA 01913. Letters of interest must be received by Feb. 12.
“We just want to make sure that we are reaching out to all stakeholders so that we can hear all the different opinions to be able to have a really good profile of what we want in the next superintendent,” Welch said. “If you don’t have a child in the schools, that is fine. If you are a business owner, that is good, too.”
The Massachusetts Association of School Committees is expected to hold a communitywide focus group meeting Feb. 4 at 7 p.m., Welch said.
“A MASC representative will moderate a discussion and that is how they build a profile of what we are really looking for in a superintendent,” Welch said. “We are collecting the thoughts of the community about what they believe is the state of the district, what they hope to see in the future, and the characteristics, skills and qualifications they would prefer in a new superintendent.”
The city has seen four people serve as superintendent since 2015 when Michele Robinson resigned to fill the same role in Paramus, New Jersey.
Gary Reese succeeded Robinson in Amesbury and left in 2018 to become the superintendent of Westport Community Schools.
Fulgoni was hired as an interim superintendent in 2018. He signed a three-year contract with the district as the permanent superintendent in March 2019 before resigning in October. McAndrews was then named acting superintendent.
The new superintendent is expected to begin work July 1.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.
