BMR school parents asked to take a survey on next leader
BLACKSTONE – The Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee is seeking input from the community as it starts the process of selecting the district’s next school superintendent.
Specifically, the committee is reaching out to parents, teachers and students through an online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/GYV5BPD to solicit input on what qualifications they would like to see in a new superintendent.
The committee will tabulate the results of the survey, which closes Friday, Dec. 15.
School Supt. Allen W. Himmelberger, the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District’s school chief for the past four years, is retiring effective Sept. 1, 2018.The District School Committee is conducting the search inhouse and is hoping to hire a new school chief by March 1.
The projected timeline for the search started last week with the district advertising the position. Meanwhile, the committee is reaching out to the school community and community at large in both Blackstone and Millville for members to sit on a preliminary screening committee. The committee would include residents from the district towns, teachers and members of the
School Committee.
The committee has established Jan. 3 as the deadline for potential candidates to submit resumes and letters of interest. The Screening Committee will then begin reviewing resumes by Jan. 8.
Preliminary interviews of candidates will be held the week of Jan. 15 and a list of finalists will be forwarded and reviewed by the School Committee during a open, public meeting the week of Feb. 22.
The committee’s says its goal is to hire a new superintendent by March 1 and to have the new superintendent begin work in July 1.
The committee says its goal is to recruit and hire the best superintendent for the district, adding the panel is committed to an open and transparent process with stakeholder input.
Himmelberger was hired as BMR school superintendent in 2014. Before coming to Blackstone, Himmelberger of Medway was superintendent in Oxford. Before that, he was the district’s assistant superintendent and business manag- er. He began his career in education as a permanent substitute teacher for Franklin Public Schools.
Himmelberger received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and his master’s degree in education from Cambridge College in Cambridge, Mass.
He has been a member of the Southern Worcester County Education Collaborative Board of Directors since 2009
Himmelberger replaced Perry Davis, who was appointed interim BMR superintendent when former School Supt. Kimberly Shaver-Hood resigned to become the superintendent of schools in Wareham, Mass.
Last year, Assistant School Superintendent Dr. David L. Thomson left the BlackstoneMillville Regional School District year to become the next superintendent of the Norwood Public School District. Thomson was hired by the regional district three years ago.
In the School Committee’s letter announcing Himmelberger’s retirement three weeks ago, the panel said it will continue the school improvement plant set forth by Himmelberger and the leadership team.
“First and foremost in this endeavor is to secure the funds necessary to operate the district in order to meet the needs of its students,” the committee wrote. “While the financing of public education will continue to be our most pressing issue, Allen has promised continued transparency and dedication in producing a fiscal 2019 budget process and resolution. We look forward to working with him and all of you to accomplish our goals.”