Acting Natick Superintendent To Be Interviewed For Permanent Job

NATICK, MA—According to analysts and advocacy groups for Massachusetts schools, there is a lack of qualified candidates for the open superintendent's positions. One that needs to be filled is Superintendent of Schools in Natick, where the school committee is trying to determine whether its interim superintendent is the right fit for the job.

In a special meeting of the Natick School Committee, members will interview Dr. Anna Nolin, who has been Natick's acting superintendent since March, when Superintendent Peter Sanchioni resigned for "personal reasons."

Nolin, who was previously the assistant superintendent, is being interviewed in open session at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Town Hall.

As school committee chair Lisa Tabenkin explained to Patch, "We are only interviewing Dr. Nolin. We are vetting her first to see if she is the best fit for our district before we spend money on an external search."

The district has about 5,400 students in eight schools.

Tabenkin said the committee has consulted with the executive directors of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) to obtain names of potential candidates and a list of other districts that are also looking. Tabenkin said "the news was not great" about available candidates.

"Their recommendation is that all districts prioritize the vetting of internal candidates prior to even considering looking externally," she said.

More than 60 percent of districts looking to fill similar positions have promoted from within, statistics show.

"We also reached out to other school committees who have completed recent searches and their advice was to look internally as well," said Tabenkin. "Most of them had succession plans in place for an internal hiring of a superintendent, but those who looked externally were disappointed in the lack of candidates that could meet the needs of their districts."

According to a recent survey by MASS, a superintendents stay an average of five years in one district before moving on, and the average annual salary is around $174,000.

Photo via Natick public schools

Lisa Tabenkin