Peabody Looks To Hire Interim School Superintendent By New Year

PEABODY, MA —The Peabody school committee hopes to have an interim superintendent in place when students return after the holiday break on Jan. 2. The school committee met in a closed decision Monday to map out a plan for replacing Superintendent Cara Murtagh and Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Assistant Principal Judie Maniatis, who died within days of one another last month.

The school committee's vote Monday raised immediate speculation among parents that the board would tap former superintendent Herb Levine, who served as interim superintendent before Murtagh. But school committee member Beverly griffin said the committee had no specific candidate in mind.

"The School Committee has already been in contact with MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees) and MASS (Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents) to select candidates for our consideration for the Interim Superintendent position," Griffin said in an email. "They are working on timelines, etc., with our staff for this process. For the time being, we will be working closely with (Assistant Superintendent Chris) Lord and our Principals and staff to continue Cara Murtagh's vision and mission - she, and they, had numerous improvements all ready to go, and we're going to support them with their work."

Levine, who was considered for Marblehead's interim superintendent opening earlier this year, was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Lord, who has also been serving as principal of the high school since Erick Buckley resigned at the end of the 2018-19 school year, will continue to serve in the dual role.