Incoming Melrose Superintendent's Contract Details Announced

MELROSE, MA — Julie Kukenberger is officially set to become the next superintendent of Melrose Public Schools. The School Committee on Wednesday announced terms of Kukenberger's three-year contract, which will have a starting salary of $183,000 per year.

The contract, unanimously approved by the School Committee Tuesday night, takes effect July 1. That's the first day Cyndy Taymore's retirement goes into effect. Taymore announced in November she was going to call it a career.

Kukenberger has been the interim superintendent of Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. She was selected by the School Committee March 17, chosen over Interim Superintendent for the Brookline Public Schools Benjamin Lummis and Assistant Superintendent in Revere Joshua Vadala.

Below is Kukenberger's bio from the School Committee:

Dr. Kukenberger is currently the Interim Superintendent of Schools for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District (2019-2020). Dr. Kukenberger's prior central office experience includes: three years as Superintendent of Schools in Scarborough, Maine; two years as Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Haverhill, Massachusetts; and almost two years as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the North Hanover Township School District, New Jersey. In addition, she has been a Principal, Assistant Principal, and classroom teacher at the Elementary level in the North Hanover Township School District, McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. Dr. Kukenberger has an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership for Social Justice from Boston College, a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.