Supt. search narrowed to 3 finalists
The search for a new superintendent to lead the Ayer Shirley Regional School District, ongoing since early this year, is in its final stages, with the field narrowed to three finalists.
They are:
: Margaret Ferrick, who is currently deputy superintendent of the Southbridge Public School District, was originally a social worker and spent 20 years working in that capacity for the Lowell public schools, at the same time ascending the leadership ladder until she became principal/director in 2013 in Lowell. With a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst, Ferrick earned a master’s degree in social work at Boston College and obtained her doctorate from UMass Lowell.
: Adam Renda, who earned his undergraduate degree at Fitchburg State University, a master’s degree from Cambridge College and a doctorate from Boston College, built his career in the Fitchburg Public Schools over the past two decades, starting as a classroom teacher. He has held positions as assistant principal and principal in the district and is currently its chief intervention officer. Renda holds several certifications in addition to his superintendent’s license.
: Karen Zaleski is director of student services for the Hopkinton Public School District, where her responsibilities include overseeing special education services. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Worcester State, an M.A. in counseling psychology from Assumption College and obtained her doctorate from Boston College. Zaleski also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Anna Maria College in Paxton. She holds several certifications in her field and at the administrative level, including principal and superintendent of schools.
The School Committee is scheduled to vote for its selected candidate on Monday, May 3. If contract negotiations are successful, the new superintendent’s start date is July
1.
With the current superintendent — Mary Malone — retiring at the end of the school year, the School Committee in February launched a superintendent search that was basically done with the process outlined by Glenn Koocher, of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.
Having voted to engage MASC to help the district conduct the search, with Koocher as consultant, next steps included setting a timeline and forming a screening committee to review applications.
Community and teacher focus groups were held in February and March and letters of interest solicited to serve on the screening committee. Public input came via an on-line survey and a community forum.
The School Committee earlier this month appointed a 14-member screening committee consisting of two parents and two teachers from each of the district’s four schools, two administrators, two high school students and two school board members.
Starting with an applicant pool of 21, the group chose nine prospective candidates to interview and selected three finalists to recommend to the School Committee.
Next, the School Committee visited the school districts in which those three candidates currently work. The candidates then visited the Ayer Shirley District and toured its four schools.
Wrapping up the search process, a series of community meet and greets were scheduled this week, one for each of the candidates, followed by individual interviews with the School Committee. While the meet the candidates events — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 4:30 to 5:30 pm in the high school auditorium — and the interviews that followed — held at 7 pm elsewhere in the building — were Zoom-accessible, only the afternoon events were open to in-person, public participation.
For more information, including sign-in directions, see the ASRSD website.