4 Candidates For Superintendent Announced In Waltham

WALTHAM, MA —After a months-long process, the Superintendent Search Committee has narrowed 25 candidates to four finalists for the top spot in the Waltham Public Schools.

Frank Hackett, Brad Morgan, Sergio Paez and Brian Regan will go on to the next interview phase, the search committee announced Wednesday night.

None of the candidates work in the district. All have previously served as superintendents, or in one case assistant superintendent, and one was a Waltham principal for five years.

Public interviews of the candidates are scheduled for next week, according to School Committee member Margaret Donnelly.

Hackett has spent the past five years as superintendent of Braintree Public Schools. Before that he was the superintendent at Pembroke Public Schools for eight years. He has his Doctorate of Education from the University of Maine.

Morgan, of Chelmsford, has been the Superintendent of Schools for the North Middlesex Regional School District in Pepperell for the past year and a half. Before that he was a consultant for Teachers 21 for six years, while also working as principal at Essex Technical High School and North Shore Technical High School. From 2010 to 2015, he was the principal at Waltham's McDevitt Middle School.

Paez has worked as the director of Equity, Empowerment and Excellence for English Learners in Central Falls, RI, for the past year and a half. Before that, he worked for a year and a half in Leominster Public Schools' Human Resources office, and before that was superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools for two and a half years in an effort to transform it - it was one of the lowest performing districts in the state. Eventually, the state took it over. He has his Masters' from Harvard and his Ed.D in School Administration from Boston College. [Editor's note: Patch has truncated this section in an effort to highlight the basics. We will report fuller on each of the candidates in the weeks to come]

Regan has been the assistant superintendent for Wilmington Public Schools for the past year and a half. Before that he was principal for seven years at Hudson High School and for five years at Shrewsbury High School. He has his doctorate from Northeastern University and his masters from UMass Boston.

George Frost, who was the administrator of human resources for the schools, slid into the superintendent role at the end of last school year when former Superintendent Drew Echelson stepped down after four years at the helm. Frost is set to be in position temporarily until a permanent superintendent is found. The plan was to have the process complete by Dec. 18, 2019. But that date was pushed back to February 2020, when the search hit a snag in the fall.

The district received 19 applications in October and then the search committee interviewed the candidates and chose two finalists. They were about to forward the finalist names to the School Committee when one of the candidates unexpectedly withdrew, haulting the process.

The search committee voted to open a new search opening applications again on Nov. 13 and applications were due back Dec. 20.

Now the process is coming to a close once more. Wednesday the committee announced four finalists to forward to the School Committee.

Some 25 people, seven of which were women, applied for the position the second time around, according to John Frassica of the School Committee.

The new superintendent would oversee a budget of about $91,550,620 across 10 schools and a pre school and some 5,692 students, 50.6 of which English is not their first language. Of the student population 49.5 percent are considered low Income, and 15.6 percent are considered needing special education.

The next superintendent would be expected to usher in and follow through the master plan for the new high school building project, address diversity needs and education gaps in the district.
The search committee is made up of 15 people, including three school committee members, two administrators, three faculty members, three parents, two community members, and representative of the special education team and of an English language learner.
Previously:

• Search For Superintendent Of Waltham Schools Is On
• George Frost To Be Waltham Schools Interim Superintendent
• Waltham Superintendent Echelson Resigns, Takes Job At ...
• Waltham Seeks Superintendent Search Committee Members
• 19 People Applied To Be Superintendent of Waltham Schools
• Superintendent Search Hits Snag In Waltham
• Search For Superintendent Of Waltham Schools Is On Again

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).