Connolly tapped for Lawrence school board
Former Boston mayoral candidate John Connolly has been selected to chair a new state-appointed board charged with overseeing Lawrence Public Schools when Superintendent and Receiver Jeff C. Riley steps down.
Acting Commissioner Jeff Wulfson announced the new seven-member board, known as the Lawrence Alliance for Education, and said yesterday it will oversee the Level 5 school district as receiver and also will be tasked with finding the district’s next superintendent.
The board members will replace Riley, who announced in November that he was stepping down from the position he’s held for six years at the end of the school year. He is being recommended by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to become the next state commissioner.
Connolly, who made education a central issue of his failed 2013 bid for mayor, has served as executive director of The 1647, Inc. in Boston, an organization that helps schools increase family engagement.
Lawrence, once one of the state’s lowest-performing school districts, was placed in state control in 2011.
Other board members include: Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera; Lawrence Community Works Executive Director Jessica Andors; Noemi Custodia-Lora, vice president of the Lawrence campus and community relations for Northern Essex Community College; Patricia Mariano, member of the Lawrence School Committee and former principal of the Francis M. Leahy School in Lawrence; and Ventura Rodriguez, associate commissioner for the statewide system of support at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Connolly told the Herald the board’s primary role will be to build on Riley’s success.
“The outgoing Superintendent Jeff Riley has done an excellent job,” Connolly said. “We want to expand on his strong leadership and a large part of that is understanding what the community wants.”