Longtime educator to oversee Dever school
Retired Superintendent Contompasis returns as receiver
Longtime Hub educator Michael Contompasis is once again being brought back from retirement — this time to steer the troubled Dever Elementary School.
Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley announced Contompasis’ appointment as state receiver to the Dorchester school yesterday. Contompasis is replacing Riley, who temporarily took over as receiver after BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang resigned in June.
Riley, in a letter to the Dever community, said Contompasis will work “closely” alongside Principal Todd Fishburn. Contompasis is a former Boston Public Schools superintendent and onetime headmaster of Boston Latin School.
“I am confident in their combined abilities to build upon the progress Dever has already made and address students’ needs,” Riley said.
Jacqueline Reis, education department spokeswoman, said the move does not signal that the state is seeking a radical change in the school’s improvement strategies.
Contompasis said he looks forward to the job.
“I’m happy to again be working with Boston public school students, and I welcome the chance to support the improvement efforts that are already underway at the Dever,” said Contompasis in a statement. “I looking forward to working with the school’s principal, Dr. Todd Fishburn, to continue implementing the school’s turnaround plan.”
The Dever Elementary School is an underperforming school taken over by the state in 2013 because of poor performance and bad test scores. The state originally appointed Blueprint Schools, a Newton nonprofit, to run the school, but due to declining enrollment and staff turnover the state named Chang as receiver in June 2017.
Contompasis served for 40 years in BPS and is often asked to return to steer the district out of difficult problems. He served as headmaster at Boston Latin from 1976 to 1998 and as superintendent from 2005 to 2007. In 2016, he returned as interim headmaster of Boston Latin after the school’s headmaster departed amid a federal probe into racial discrimination against students.
“We are grateful to have such an immensely talented and dedicated Boston Public Schools educator working alongside Dever Principal Todd Fishburn to continue the important mission of improving this school,” said BPS Interim Superintendent Laura Perille in a letter to staff. “Michael has a long, proven track record of effective leadership in Boston and a strong commitment to ensuring that all students have access to high-quality instruction.”