With the vote for non-renewal of the Superintendent’s contract, Worcester will need to begin the search for a new leader for our schools.
Question: What types of expertise and experience would you consider the most important in the search for a new Superintendent?
7 out of 8 candidates responded
Dianna Biancheria
“I am on the ad hoc committee working towards our new superintendent for Worcester Public schools. I believe we have some big shoes to fill as we proceed forward .I will be taking into consideration strong communication skills ,sharing in the vision of our team/our community, A strategic leader supporting students of all backgrounds, recognizing the importance of college and career pathways, creativity of opportunities for all students, financial experience recognizing the importance of a budget including Funding under SOA and ESSR, A commitment of accountability and transparency.”
Laura Clancey
“I am looking for a candidate who has significant experience working with a diverse student population, managing over 5,000 employees and working with a budget of our size. Someone who is open to input from stakeholders across the city.”
Jermaine Johnson
“My top priority for the superintendent search is that the process is transparent and inclusive. We need to communicate with voters every step of the way about the search. We also need to involve the community, including parents, teachers and others, and give them opportunities for meaningful input. We need to particularly make sure that folks who normally aren’t part of this kind of conversation are heard. That means particular outreach to marginalized communities. I support a nationwide search, and believe we should consider both strong local candidates, as well as candidates from across the country. I don’t think we should limit ourselves by only looking inside OR outside the city.
For our next superintendent, we need someone who has a vision which matches the needs of our district, and who will be accountable to and collaborate with the community, parents, students, and teachers. The Worcester school district is a district with over 25K students, 44 schools, 74 different languages are spoken, and we have over 1900 teachers. So we need someone who can handle a large, diverse district, and who will listen to the community.”
Jermoh Kamara
“Worcester needs a superintendent who has expertise in principal leadership. He/she must be skilled in selecting principals that can meet the challenges of working in our diverse schools. Worcester needs a superintendent who is an agile and community leader. For an agile leader, communication is key, and decision-making is not just from top to bottom but bottoms up. Everyone is a team player and adds value to and for the success of the Team. Communication in this context is about working with School Committee members and key community
stakeholders to fix how the district handles communication issues with parents, the community, and students. It also pertains to the different strategies that the next superintendent will put in place to use 21st Century technology or innovative ways to accommodate how children learn and their experience in WPS. This also includes someone that will execute training for teachers and staff around culturally responsive communication, cultural competency, and diversity training. Someone who can create a culture of inclusion in schools, increase transparency and build a culture where accountability is esteemed. The next superintendent should work to use the current ARPA dollars effectively to impact student learning outcomes that was lost due to COVID and increase funding coming into our district from state and federal sources so that Worcester Public School teachers can have the resources they need to successfully conduct their classes.”
Sue Mailman
“I’m looking for a new leader who is a strategic and big-picture thinker and who understands the urgency we all feel to improve outcomes for all children. Specifically, I’d be looking for a superintendent that has a track record in a district the size of ours that includes diversifying the workforce, implementing innovative education models, expanding the use of technology, supporting educators and staff, and collaborating with the School Committee and community.”
Tracy O'Connell Novick
“I think first it’s important to note that the search itself needs to be incredibly inclusive of the larger community. While the final hiring decision is made by the School Committee, having the larger Worcester community, in all its varied aspects, weigh in on what they’d like to see in the next superintendent is very important. That is something those of us on the search committee have prioritized in the RFP for the search firm, and it will continue to be a priority going forward.
What the Worcester Public Schools badly need right now is strategic leadership that thinks and works towards systemic change. In other words, we need to not be running in 50 different directions, but using the whole system to work to improve the education and the experience for our students and their families. A leader who has substantive experience that clearly demonstrates the ability and a track record of that sort of leadership in a system the size of Worcester is my first priority.We also have a responsibility to consider who our students are, and consider leadership that reflects them and their experiences.”
Molly O. McCullough
“As we work toward the hiring of the next Superintendent, I am looking for someone who can build upon what we have and bring us to the next level. Someone innovative, someone who can lead a large and diverse district. It’s a turning point in education as things have changed and continue to do so. Strong communication skills, a problem solver, someone who shares the values of the district and the community. An instructional leader who can build upon community and business relationships. We need to continue to work together as a team. We know that role of a Superintendent is not an easy one and it is one that can come with a lot of criticism at times. We need to be able to utilize the criticism in a way that is reflective and that is another one of the strengths that I will look for in the next Superintendent.”
Shanel Soucy
Waiting for response from the candidate.
