Town looks to Vermont for its next school superintendent
The School Committee unanimously chose an educator from Vermont to take over as superintendent of the Milton Public Schools at the end of the school year.
Peter Burrows is currently superintendent of the Addison Central School District based in Middlebury, Vt. – a district less than half the size of Milton’s.
“I am thrilled,” Burrows said by phone after the Jan. 6 vote. “I have been in Vermont
10 years and am ready to move somewhere with more diversity and a more urban environment.”
He added Milton was closer to his family — his brotherin-law used to live in Milton and his parents are on Martha’s Vineyard and in Connecticut — and his research into the community made it look like “an ideal situation for a new superintendent to come in and help carry out the strategic plan, really focusing on equity in learning and being sure every student is getting what they need.”
Burrows said he would start July 1, contingent on successful contract negotiations with the School Committee.
Nineteen candidates applied for the position, which opened when former superintendent James Jette resigned in November. He had been on administrative leave since July following his arrest on a domestic violence charge that was later dropped.
Janet Sheehan came out of retirement to become acting superintendent and will continue through January, when another interim superintendent is expected to step in for the rest of the school year.
The three finalists for the superintendent job were Burrows; Peter Cushing, Assistant Superintendent for Medford Public Schools; and Nan Murphy, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning in Marblehead.
Burrows — who grew up in Darien, Conn., and went to college in Oregon — spent the first 10 years of his career teaching English in Japan, Korea, India, and Mexico. He then taught high school English in Eugene, Ore., where he later became an assistant principal and principal.
He became superintendent of the Addison Central School District in 2013. The Vermont district has about 1,760 students in nine schools from Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham, and Weybridge. Demographic data shows about 94 percent of the students are white.
The Milton district has about 4,300 students in six schools; about 67 percent are white.