This just in from David Fleishman, Newton’s Superintendent of Schools…
Dear North Community,
Over the past several weeks, it has been a great pleasure working with a range of stakeholders on the Newton North High School principal search. The thoughtful questions and scenarios that were posed to the finalist candidates by students, faculty, administrators and parents demonstrated that Newton North has a highly knowledgeable, engaged and committed community. I am also very appreciative of the Selection Advisory Committee who invested tremendous energy and care interviewing candidates and providing me with feedback.
Last week, Newton North was privileged to host two excellent school administrators who have contributed much to public education and will make an even greater impact in the future. I am grateful to both Geoff Walker and Bill Klements for the thought, care, and intelligence they demonstrated during the past few weeks. The search process was a rigorous one and they deserve great credit for making it to the finalist stage.
After a thorough review and a careful examination of the needs of the school, I have decided to appoint an interim principal for the 2015-16 school year. In the next several weeks, we will examine our options for an interim principal and an announcement will be made after the April vacation.
I want to thank those of you who provided such valuable feedback throughout the search process. I will keep you informed as we proceed with next steps.
Sincerely,
David A. Fleishman
Superintendent of Schools
I am flabbergasted by this. The “tremendous energy and care” of the Selection Committee clearly was a waste of their valuable time. Someone please explain why this guy still has a job in the City of Newton.
@WholeTruth: Ouch, that’s kind of harsh. I don’t know any of the specifics here. But hiring is tricky. Candidates sometimes don’t pan out for reasons that aren’t anyone’s “fault.”
The letter doesn’t explicitly say that neither of these two were chosen- but I am assuming that is what Fleishman means. Better to wait and examine additional candidates than rush into a possibly flawed choice.
The search may have started too late to get a wide range of candidates (due to the timing of Price’s announcement). They may have decided it was best to restart it at a time when there would be more people available and not yet committed for the upcoming school year. This isn’t uncommon in situations like this where the timing of a search happens late in the season.
@Greg,
It is harsh, and meant to be. If this was going to be the outcome, then why rush the process in the first place? And is this really fair to the two final candidates? And I’m sorry but if I was on the Selection Committee, I would be disgusted that my time and effort was for nothing. Sorry, not willing to give him a pass on this.
Maybe they just presented the two best ones that applied and Fleishman simply decided that the selection pool wasn’t what he hoped for? The ‘easy’ choice would have been to just hire one and be done with it. This seems like a more thoughtful approach. Jen’s a tough act to follow…give him a chance to get it right.
I think mgwa has it right. Neither candidate stood out on paper, I’m glad to see Fleishman hold the line on meeting his standard.
This is an attractive community with an amazing facility in Newton North– we should be looking across the region and beyond for a top flight candidate. A proven track record as a high performing high school principal should be the goal.
TWT – There was no way of knowing if the selection process would be fruitful without trying. This is pretty standard procedure if you have an opening late in the job hunting season. You never know if a gem or two may be available despite the smaller pool, and it’s preferable to fill the position if possible.
I’ve been on a selection committee where we were underwhelmed with the candidates and trying to decide whether to pick one or try again. In our case, we got lucky when someone excellent came along. Personally, I would have considered my time more wasted had we gone with someone we weren’t fully happy with than had we started the search over. You learn a lot about what you’re looking for during the search process, so the time isn’t wasted.
Lets hope he looks internally for the Interim Principal.
I just hope they look for the best.
Mr Fleishman should have been in control all along. If he were not comfortable with any (not just the finalist) candidates, he should have not brought them in.
Hiring 101!
I wonder if this is a reflection of school committee’s confidence in Mr. Fleishman.
Over the past 30 tears I have observed several different people take charge at North. Jim Marini was the best by far. Jim did work in Newton for many years but he worked outside of Newton too.
Jim was simply a superb leader. He didn’t come out of the world of high profile degrees from top colleges. He honed his skills over years of teaching and administrative work. His personality and ethical standards prepared him well for a top notch leadership role.
I hope D.F. and the search comm. choose someone like Jim. Anyone who heads Newton North has a huge task moving forward. Newton residents have high standards and hold their leaders to a strict level of accountability. Whoever is hired has to be well prepared to weather the on slots of criticism which always emerge during a principal’s tenure.