Superintendent search advances

The Board of Education has narrowed 29 applicants for the superintendent’s job to nine and is interviewing them during five meetings from Jan. 29 through Thursday, Feb. 15.

The interviews will be conducted during executive sessions, which are closed to the public.

At the Jan. 23 meeting, board president Claire Lockwood said a superintendent search committee has narrowed the applications down to “a very good pool of nine candidates.”

Former Superintendent Alex Anemone resigned effective July 1 to take another job, and Lydia Furnari has served as interim superintendent since Aug. 1.

Lockwood was asked if there will be an opportunity for additional public comment or contribution as the field narrows.

She said that was not likely and pointed out that the public had an opportunity to provide comments when surveys were sent out earlier in the search process.

Playground problems

Amanda Batson, representing the Marshall Hill School PTA, distributed a letter to each board member before participating in the public comments period. She then read from the letter detailing issues with the school playground.

The playground is woefully underutilized because of its wet and muddy conditions, she said she was told by teachers, staff and other parents at the elementary school.

The playground usually is covered with a layer of mulch each year to allow for children to safely access it, she said, but not enough mulch was provided to cover the entire area.

Because of the playground’s location in the center of a hill, the mulch that is put down often is washed away, Bass said.

Mats previously were placed under the swings to help address the issue, but there has been no permanent solution. She cited the lack of proper drainage as the central cause of the problem and provided photos to board members.

She encouraged the board to explore a long-term solution and to act quickly so the children could benefit from the playground before the end of the school year.

Batson drew a sharp contrast between how the students are spending their recess, limited to the blacktop, and the social and emotional development opportunities that they can experience only when using the playground.

School board members did not ask questions nor comment on the issue.

CORRECTION: Amanda Batson did not mention laptops in her comments at the meeting, as incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this article. Her last name also was incorrect. We regret the errors.

Also, in an earlier version of this article, Board of Education president Claire Lockwood was incorrectly quoted as saying the new superintendent might be introduced at the Feb. 20 board meeting. Board members are continuing to interview possible candidates Feb. 21 and 22. We regret the error.