Norwich school board to begin reviewing superintendent candidates
Norwich — Applications were due by the end of Wednesday in the Board of Education’s search for a new superintendent, which is expected to intensify next week.
The number of applications received was not available Wednesday afternoon. Search consultant Elizabeth Osga of the New England School Development Council said electronic applications would continue to be accepted late Wednesday, and she would not receive the final packets until later this week.
Superintendent Abby Dolliver announced in December that she plans to retire on June 30, and the board hopes to name a replacement by late April.
“I’m encouraged and hopeful this is going to be a good pool for Norwich,” Osga said Wednesday.
She said in other searches for superintendents, the number of applications is up from recent years, “so it looks like a better year for a board to look for a superintendent.”
Osga will meet behind closed doors with the Board of Education, which is serving as the search committee, at 6 p.m. on March 14 to review the applications and make arrangements for the candidate selection process, school board Chairwoman Yvette Jacaruso said.
The board will hold another closed-door meeting with Osga on March 19 to review a selection of candidates to be interviewed, finalize a list of questions and tasks for the candidates to complete and to confirm interview procedures and schedules, Jacaruso said.
The tentative schedule calls for a selection of the top five to eight candidates to be made at a March 28 meeting, and following interviews, for NESDC to do a final vetting of the top candidate or candidates by April 1.
The board could interview the top one or more candidates for the second time April 2 and make arrangements to visit a finalist’s district if the board chooses, Jacaruso said. A date also will be set for some time in April for a finalist candidate to spend a day visiting the Norwich district and meeting with Norwich school officials.
The tentative schedule would have the board reaching an agreement with a top choice and come to a contract agreement at an April 17 closed-door meeting and ask NESDC to do a final verification of the person’s credentials. A vote could be made at a special meeting April 23, or at the board’s regular meeting May 14, Jacaruso said — “definitely by then we should have a new superintendent chosen.”
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