Lee Public Schools to hire interim superintendent

LEE – In order to ensure a quality candidate as a long-term replacement for Lee Public Schools Superintendent Jason P. McCandless, the school committee is looking to hire an interim superintendent for one to two years.

Late last month, Dr. McCandless was hired as Pittsfield’s new superintendent.

“Our public congratulations and we’re so sad [for you to leave],” Lee School Committee Chairwoman Susan Harding told him at a March 12 meeting.

The chair added the job posting for the interim superintendent would be posted as soon as this weekend, and the application deadline for the interim position is April 1.

A screening committee will be formed to go through the applications and both that group and the full school committee will be working closely with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) in the process.

Superintendent McCandless is scheduled to start his job in Pittsfield on July 1. He currently resides in the city, and his three children attend Pittsfield Public Schools.

Initial budget projections

Dr. McCandless also shared his initial budget projections with the Lee School Committee at its March 12 meeting.

He indicated an initial survey of the administration and teachers had a seven percent increase from fiscal year 2013 to FY ’14, but it has so far been scaled back to an approximate 3.25 percent, or $256,192, increase over the current budget.

The school committee will further deliberate the budget at its March 26 meeting, at 7 p.m. at the district office. There will also be a public budget hearing on Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in the Lee Elementary School cafeteria.

Expanded health curriculum

In an effort to promote student wellness, Lee Public Schools is also looking to expand its health education for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

The elementary school’s physical education teachers, Jennifer Carlino and Janet Warner, have come up with a curriculum that includes once-a-month lessons in P.E. classes on a variety of topics, including fitness, nutrition, mental health and safety.

“That’s a lot of really great stuff there,” School Committee Vice Chairman Robert Lohbauer said of the proposed curriculum for the 2013-2014 school year.

“This really illustrates the scope of we take care of kids 360 degrees,” added Superintendent McCandless.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on March 14, 2013. Filed under Education News,Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry