By Josh Resnek
The Superintendent Choice Committee voted unanimously last week to choose a Boston School administrator Priya Tahiliana as the head of Everett’s public schools beginning most likely in September, 2020.
If contract negotiations go smoothly, it is expected she could take the position at the end of March or April – or the process might not unfold as quickly and she will start near to the end of the school year 2019.
Tahiliana’s contract will likely be in the $200,000 range with a host of smaller perks including an automobile allowance.
Tahiliani becomes only the second permanent superintendent of schools here in the past 30 years.
She will head a school system that has a growing population of students now over 7,000 and a compliment of 600 teachers as well as a bevy of school administrators.
The finalization of her candidacy and her election as superintendent has aided in calming down the system wide reluctance to accept change until the change had finally been decided on.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Tahiliani has overseen the Boston Public Schools’ office of English learners since 2017. She also taught for 15 years in Boston schools.
In focus groups earlier this year, Everett residents called for a superintendent like Tahiliani, according to committee member Frank Parker: “[They] wanted someone who is bilingual … someone who has roots in being a teacher.”
Parker called the new superintendent’s real job a “regime change.”
Everett officials and teachers were optimistic about Tahiliani, but they were also realistic about how long the promised “regime change” might take. “Priya is not going to come and change everything that’s been done for thirty years, but this is a good step,” said Marcony Almeida- Barros, another school committee member.