CLAREMONT — Members of the public criticized the process to select the next leader of SAU 6, now in its final phase, for its lack of public and staff involvement at a recent School Board meeting.
The search subcommittee of the School Board selected three finalists for the position of SAU 6 executive director, but as of now, the hiring committee will interview only one candidate after the other two withdrew their names from consideration, Committee Chairman William Madden said at the meeting on March 18.
Madden, who served on the committee with the board’s vice chairman, Mike Petrin, and former School Board member Frank Sprague, who lost in the March 10 election, did not reveal the name of the remaining finalist, but did say the person was currently a superintendent.
The job description does not require that the person hold a superintendent’s license.
The full board will conduct an interview with one building principal in a nonpublic session, though the date has not been set, Madden said.
The committee, which no longer includes Sprague since his election loss, has received two additional resumes and has extended the application deadline to April 1, Madden said.
The district is under “extreme time constraints,” he said in a Friday interview, they have to make a decision soon because qualified candidates could be interviewing at other districts.
“That is part of it, but morale is low and we just can’t go much longer without a strong leader,” Madden said in a Sunday interview, adding that the new hire could begin before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
The SAU, which until July 1 also serves Unity, is currently helmed by interim Superintendent Kerry Kennedy. She has been serving in the interim role since September. Chris Pratt, the former superintendent, resigned in September after being placed on administrative leave shortly after the School Board announced a multimillion dollar deficit and cash flow crisis.
The role of the executive director will be temporary, perhaps one or two years, a message posted by the district on the SAU 6 website said. The person’s role will be to stabilize operations and finances, while a qualified educational administrator, who is yet to be hired, will focus “on curriculum, teaching, and learning,” the SAU post said.
“The goal is to get our district back on solid ground, working closely with the board, schools, business office, and the broader community,” the SAU said.
A few residents at last week’s School Board meeting criticized the board for what they viewed as a closed-door process that did not involve anyone from the community or SAU 6 staff.
“I haven’t seen anything about what (the committee) is doing,” said resident Rod Beaton at last week’s School Board meeting. “There was no community involvement that I am aware of. No parents, no community members and no principals until the final candidate was chosen.”
Beaton said that given the tumultuous year the district has had with layoffs, budget cuts and a school closing to address a $5 million deficit, this is not what the community is expecting in terms of transparency.
“I would like to hear more on the process and why there was not more community involvement,” Beaton said.
Mimi Rhines, a guidance counselor at Stevens High School, called the process “a travesty.”
“In a year when everything the district is doing is being put under a microscope, this search should be happening in the public eye as much as possible,” Rhines said.
Rhines asked where the public forums with the finalists were; why wasn’t there a walk-through in the schools for students and staff to meet the finalists; and why no surveys were sent asking residents what they wanted to see in a leader.
Given the secrecy of the process, she said it would not matter if the board hires someone who is as “transparent as they come.”
“They will have a massive uphill battle of having to earn our trust and respect because the group of people who probably have the least amount of trust has appointed them,” Rhines said, referring to the board.
She urged the board to “slow the process down and involve the public. The district deserves that much.”
The board did not respond to the criticism and later went into a nonpublic session to discuss the finalist.
The SAU asserted in its web post that the process has been open.
“While the process to hire an Executive Director is different from hiring a Superintendent, we have still conducted a structured search that is thorough and transparent,” the post said.
Earlier in the meeting, Madden said the committee received eight resumes and narrowed the field to three before conducting video interviews. He said if an offer is made, he expects the candidate will be available to meet with the public before the full board makes a final decision.
When asked about comments by residents on the lack of public and staff input as was done previously, Madden said from what he has heard, the process did not work well with the hiring of former Superintendent Mike Tempesta, whom the board fired in 2024.
“This position is also ‘at will.’ meaning the board can make a change if the person isn’t meeting expectations with no buyout or payout required,” the SAU said. “We learned from past experience, and we’re building in accountability from the start.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.