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The Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee voted unanimously Monday night to approve several key parts of its superintendent search plan. The vote sets up a fast-moving process, with candidate interviews scheduled for mid-December.
At its November 2 meeting, the committee approved a 16-member screening committee, the charge that will govern that group’s work, a schedule of community forums and a draft job posting. Staff from the Collins Center for Public Management at UMass Boston, which is running the search, joined the meeting to walk members through the process.
Screening Committee
The 16 screening committee members were recommended by a working group made up of Chair Jessica McCready, Vice Chair Betsy Sues and Dr. Carol Cavanaugh of the district administration. The process is described in an Oct. 22 memo in the meeting packet. [Embedded below]
McCready and Sues each rated applicants “yes,” “no” or “maybe” before the group met. Names that got three “no” votes, or “no” votes from both committee members, were dropped without discussion. The rest were narrowed down based on the role each person would represent and their experience.
The group first picked 17 people, including McCready and Sues. One declined after being notified, and three others raised scheduling conflicts the memo said could likely be worked around.
Public Input
Community input will be gathered soon through forums and an online survey. Under the proposed timeline in the packet, the Collins Center will hold two forums as soon as next week, with afternoon and evening options.
The online survey opens soon. The Collins Center will send a summary of the survey and forum feedback to the School Committee and screening committee.
Salary and Timeline
The draft job posting listed a starting salary of $245,000 to $270,000 plus benefits. Collins Center representatives told the committee that the range seemed appropriate in their view. After discussion about comparable districts, the Committee agreed to adjust the range to $230,000 to $270,000. The Collins Center representatives supported that change.
[Clarification: The prior version of this story omitted that the committee discussed comparable districts and updated the salary range.]
Later in the meeting, while discussing next year’s budget, Acting Director of Business and Human Resources Buck Creel told the committee the increased salary range was news to him, and he would have to factor that into his budget drafts. That could add some pressure to a budget that initially showed an approximately $1 million shortfall for Fiscal Year 2028.
The current search timeline stops at the December interviews. It does not give dates for public finalist interviews or a final vote, which will likely be decided at a later meeting.
Collins Center representatives told the committee that keeping to the proposed timeline would keep SPS ahead of other districts competing for the same pool of candidates. They described it as an “advantage.”
The meeting packet is below.
