Right now, it appears as though acting Superintendent of Schools Janice Gauthier is very likely to hold her job well into the next school year unless something startling happens.
There are several reasons that her tenancy in the Superintendent’s office might turn out to be a great deal longer than first expected when she took over on December 22, 2018.
The process of choosing a new superintendent is long and tedious.
Many personalities will be involved as the requirements of the search demand civil involvement of parents and teachers, the school committee and the mayor, who serves as an ex officio member of the school committee.
This we know.
When push comes to shove and the decision about who to hire is going to be made, it will be the School Committee and the School Committee alone that will be making the decision.
Parent involvement and community participation is all well and good. But the School Committee has already decided that the decision is theirs and theirs alone.
Also, the effort by the School Committee to find a successor to Mrs. Gauthier is intended to attract candidates from all over the nation.
The present School Committee feels it is constitutionally unable to choose one of 13 certified local candidates presently working for the school department to choose from for a new superintendent. The ball is already rolling to find a new superintendent.
It is a ball trying to roll uphill.
It is easier said than done trying to find a new superintendent.