Search committee members would not say if the number of candidates declined because the committee has rejected prospective superintendents or whether candidates dropped out voluntarily.
Members of the Springfield Superintendent Screening Committee, from left, are The Rev. Talbert Swan, B. John Dill, Burt Freeman, Heriberto Flores, Charles H. Rucks, Jose Claudo, Sharyn Kakley, Nancy Cavanaugh and Sherann Jackson. Not show in photo are, Kenneth Stahovish, The Rev. Mark E. Flowers, Thomas O'Brien and Thaddeus Tokarz.SPRINGFIELD — The 13-member committee preparing to screen applicants for school superintendent held its second organizational meeting Monday, setting the stage for interviews with a dwindling field of candidates.
At least twelve candidates applied for departing superintendent Alan J. Ingram’s job by the April 26 deadline, but search committee member Charles H. Rucks mentioned during the 75-minute session that the field has already been narrowed to six.
Rucks said the number of remaining candidates would allow each candidate to be interviewed for two hours, not one hour as initially planned.
But several committee members and search consultant Patricia Correira quickly reminded Rucks that details of the screening process, including the number of semifinalists, were not public information.
Committee members would not say if the number of candidates declined because the committee has rejected prospective superintendents, or whether candidates dropped out voluntarily.
Patricia CorreiraCorreira, field director the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, emphasized that no other comment on the size of field could be made in public session.
Under the committee’s rules, Correira was responsible for reviewing all applications before passing the qualified ones on to the search committee. For its part, the volunteer committee must present the School Committee with names of 3-5 finalists by May 23.
During Monday’s session at Central High School, the committee agreed on seven questions to pose to the candidates, ranging from management style and vision to strategies for improving academic performance and reducing the dropout rate.
Several members, including Heriberto Flores and Talbert W. Swan II, said the questions should convey the public’s widespread desire for urgent change in the school system.
“We don’t have five years to have (the next superintendent) come in and tinker with the school system,” Flores, executive director of the New England Farm Workers Council, said.
Swan, president of the Springfield NAACP chapter, said dramatic change would not be possible in one year, but the public wants to see signs of improvement.
The committee was chosen from 42 applicants, reflecting a cross-section of the city that included parents, business executives, teachers, principals, community members and a high school student.
Jose Claudio, New North Citizen Council’s director of community relations, is serving as chairman. Other members include Rucks, executive director of Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services; B. John Dill, president of the Colebrook Realty Services Inc.; and the Rev. Mark E. Flowers, pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church.
Other members are Charles H. Thaddeus Tokarz and Thomas O’Brien, principals of Central High School and Boland Elementary School, respectively; teachers Burton Freedman and Sherann Jackson; community member Sharyn Kakley; Central student Kenneth Stahovish; and parent Nancy Cavanaugh.
The search was launched in December, four months after Ingram announced plans to leave when his four-year contract expires on June 30.
No School Committee member can have contact with the search committee during the review period, and only the names of the finalists will be made public.