Finding a superintendent

Posted 8/20/15

The process of selecting a new superintendent starts next week when a committee of school administrators and Jennifer Ahearn, chair of the School Committee, start narrowing the list to a handful of …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Finding a superintendent

Posted

The process of selecting a new superintendent starts next week when a committee of school administrators and Jennifer Ahearn, chair of the School Committee, start narrowing the list to a handful of finalists.

Their work promises to have a profound impact on the city going forward.

In many respects, Warwick schools are in a period of dramatic change. Enrollment is declining and looks to be under 9,000 this year, a drop of more than 10,000 from when the system was in its heyday. The committee has voted to close Gorton and Aldrich Junior Schools and Vets High. Vets would be re-purposed as a middle school at the end of the current academic year. Technology is opening new ways of teaching and communicating with parents and the community and new people are stepping into roles of authority.

In other ways schools are shackled by the past. The contract with the Warwick Teachers Union is restrictive in many aspects, adhering to procedures that make it difficult for the committee to respond to change and manage costs. Systems that once worked, such as the city’s three districts each with a junior and senior high school, are now impractical and require change.

And from another perspective, Warwick schools are in a bad place. Some have portrayed the school administration and committee as a renegade system that is out of synch with the city administration. The City Council passed a vote of no confidence in three school administrators last week, although two of the three people named have retired. In addition, the council is weighing whether to subpoena the committee and members of administration to come before them to answer questions relative to the handling of a former Gorton teacher. Also, the council is looking to reinitiate the discussion of school governance with the creation of a committee to consider charter changes to come before the voters in 2016.

These are challenges a new superintendent will face.

In preparation for the selection of a new school leader, interim superintendent William Holland has been involved in many aspects of the system. He participates in contract negotiations and school consolidation meetings, met with the mayor and other city officials, visited schools and, while recognizing he will only be here temporarily, has been engaged in the day-to-day operation of schools. Schools are ready to open.

Foremost, he is directing the search for a superintendent. He has broadcast that Warwick is looking for a leader, and when the process gets down to the finalists he plans to have the candidates present their vision for Warwick schools at a public forum.

At this point there is no way of knowing who makes up the pool of candidates and whether in their ranks there is the right fit for Warwick. What is consoling is that in the short time he has been here Holland has gained an understanding of the system and the issues it faces. He knows schools and he has an idea of the leader Warwick needs.

With the input of the committee he has selected, it is our hope they will find the candidate capable of making a great Warwick school system. Given what we’ve seen so far from Holland, we don’t expect he would compromise for something less.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here