Report: Bella Wong Was Only Candidate Left for L-S Interim Superintendent Job

The Boston Globe is reporting two of the three finalists for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School's interim superintendent/principal post withdrew from consideration before the School Committee was set to make a selection last week.

Despite having just one candidate remaining, the committee voted unanimously Tuesday morning to hire former Wellesley superintendent Bella Wong.

School Committee member Nancy Marshall reportedly issued a statement Friday that was not sent to Sudbury Patch.

According to the Globe, Marshall's statement read: “In our Committee meeting Tuesday morning, we did not discuss reopening the search. We deliberated in good faith to ensure we were fully informed in our decision. We are satisfied with the process and looking forward.”

Herbert Levine, who most recently served as interim superintendent in Peabody, withdrew last weekend, the statement said.

Wong comes to L-S after a controvesial exit from Wellesley.

After a tumultuous 2010-11 year for the school department, which began in March 2011 with news that the school lunch account was in arrears by more than $100,000 and included a professional review showing sloppy accounting practices in the business office and most recently questions arising over hiring practices after a middle school custodian was charged with stealing computers and jewelry from the building, Wong announced her plans to resign.

“Ongoing public concern over school operational protocol has placed the school department in a defensive posture and has undermined my capacity to advocate effectively for the benefit of the school district at this critical juncture,” Wong wrote in her resignation letter.

“I’m really excited,’’ Wong told the Globe about taking the L-S post. “It’s where I started my teaching career.’’

Wong taught in the science department at Lincoln-Sudbury between 1991 and 1998. Most recently she spent six years as assistant superintendent in Wellesley and five as superintendent.

Details of Wong’s contract with Lincoln-Sudbury are still being worked out, the Globe reports, though she is expected to start July 1 and stay on for a year while the district searches for a permanent superintendent.

Carpenter was paid $155,000 to run the 1,600-student high school for the 2012-2013 school year. Wong’s salary in Wellesley, which has about 5,000 students, was $178,073.

Wong told the Globe she will not apply for the permanent job but is not ruling out a superintendent’s job in the future.