MIDDLEBURY — A committee searching for a new Addison Central Supervisory Union superintendent has elected not to advance a final candidate for board review. This means the district will either embark on what would be a third search, or continue into next year with an interim administrator.
The search committee, chaired by ACSU board member Peter Conlon of Cornwall, last week interviewed one finalist for the job. The panel then met on Thursday, April 5, and chose not advance the candidate on to an ACSU board interview.
“The candidate was strong in many areas, but ultimately the committee felt the candidate was not the right person for this time in the Addison Central Supervisory Union,” Conlon said.
The next step will be up to the ACSU board, which meets on April 18. It is relatively late in the recruitment season for the board to launch a third search, Conlon noted. The board could instead choose to hire an interim superintendent to lead the ACSU system through the 2012-2013 academic year. Gail Conley has served in that capacity since taking over last July 1 from former ACSU Superintendent Lee Sease, whose contract the board chose not to renew beyond June 30 of last year. As previously reported by the Addison Independent, Sease is currently suing the district over the circumstances and timing of his firing.
The ACSU serves the towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Salisbury, Shoreham, Ripton and Weybridge.
School board members have lamented a lack of applicants for the ACSU superintendency, which some attribute to a national dearth of qualified candidates and the number of school boards (nine) the ACSU’s top administrator must serve. The ACSU is currently studying the possibility of consolidating its school governance and resources.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].