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Danvers school officials have hired a consulting group to help find a new superintendent, a role the district hopes to fill by January or February.
The School Committee voted to grant the contract to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees at its meeting Monday night, the last one before school starts Sept. 7.
Since 1989, MASC has helped more than 150 communities in the state find new superintendents.
Danvers School Committee member Alice Campbell, who is leading the superintendent search with committee member Robin Doherty, said MASC came highly recommended from other districts.
“It’s important for the community to understand that there will be involvement from various stakeholders within the community and the district, so (MASC) will help us with the establishment of timelines,” Campbell said at the meeting.
MASC will assist the district in conducting online surveys or focus sessions with community stakeholders. The organization will help create a job description and profile based on the district’s needs, and what these stakeholders say they want in a superintendent.
These stakeholders won’t just be from schools or students’ families, Campbell said.
“I’ve received some emails from those interested in participating in those focus groups and will be reaching out to them and hopefully opening it up to the larger community,” she said.
MASC provided the district with an eight-step search process that begins with forming a timeline for the search and determining a salary. After, the district and MASC will hold community engagement surveys and forums, announce the vacant position, then create and distribute application materials.
The final steps will consist of reviewing applications, holding interviews for semifinalists and then finalists, who will attend site visits in the district before a candidate is chosen.
“We ideally do want someone in January or by the end of February because then we can work on the transition,” Doherty said. “We don’t want someone coming in like July 1 for the first time. and according to MASC, they think that we will get a lot of highly qualified applicants.”
The search process will officially begin next month, Campbell said. Interim Superintendent Mary Wermers will remain the district’s leader through next June.
The School Committee also discussed steps the district is taking to keep students safe at school.
While schools already have security systems and procedures in place, Danvers High School Principal Adam Federico, who is assisting in central office matters during Wermers’ tenure, said upper administration has a renewed focus on safety.
A similar discussion was held at a School Committee meeting in June following a mass shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
“We’re focusing on enhanced search security routines, and then also investing in more equipment and technology that are identified as needs in our district,” Federico said. “We’re continuing with our enhanced lockdown procedures, and these are well vetted and detailed. A lot of time and effort went into this work.”
Safety drills are held each fall and spring at the schools, and administration will continue to stress that exterior doors must be closed and locked. Visitors will also keep using the Raptor security system when signing into schools.
One thing that might feel a bit different for families this year is a strict intercom use policy when welcoming guests into buildings, Federico said. Greeters will use the intercom system to question who the visitor is and why they are at the building.
“We know that can slow things down, that this can feel a little more impersonal, especially if you’re coming because your child is sick or you have a meeting,” Federico said. “But we just hope our families understand that we just see this as another layer to make sure that the people we want in the building are the people that are at the door.”
The district also applied for a $200,000 school violence prevention program grant in June that would enhance school security systems.
Danvers has yet to hear back on the grant, but if awarded, it would allow the district to buy more security cameras for each school and a video doorbell/release for the schools currently without one.
Federico said he is confident that local police would adequately respond to Danvers schools in the event of a worst-case scenario, which investigators ruled was not the case in the Robb Elementary shooting.
“I can’t speak to why in Uvalde they responded the way they did, but I can tell you from doing many of these trainings that the accepted practice in this area is to immediately enter and then address the situation upon arrival,” Federico said.
“For us, it’s just a reinforcement of our practices… I don’t think what happened in Texas represents the response we get from law enforcement in this area,” he continued.
Committee member Gabe Lopes encouraged administrators to make sure families know where to turn to for accurate information in the event of an emergency.
“We need to get parents ready to take in that kind of message as opposed to getting a message and going into panic mode,” Lopes said. “I think we need to start to have communication with the families as practice so that families know how to respond.”
Federico said the district would send out information during an emergency via Connect-ED, a parent notification system for Danvers schools.
“Parents need to understand that we will work as quickly as we can to get key information out…,” Federico responded. “But it’s hard to give you a 100% step-by-step answer in terms of what we’re going to do and how we’re going to communicate it until we’re in the situation.”
