Springfield Public Schools seek student input on superintendent search

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - The drama continues as the search for Springfield Public Schools’ next superintendent rolls on.

After an Ad Hoc meeting was cut short on Wednesday, students from within the district are expressing their thoughts on the whole search process.

For weeks now, students and others from the Springfield Public Schools community have complained about not having any student input on the screening committee in the search for the district’s next superintendent, as the current superintendent Dan Warwick is retiring at the conclusion of the academic year.

In a press conference this afternoon in Springfield, some students from the Pioneer Valley Project spoke to the media about their thoughts on the overall process.

These are students who have asked for student representation in the screening process and increased transparency when it comes to the search itself.

Now, this all came a day after the Ad Hoc Committee was supposed to have a meeting discussing its own proposal to have two student representatives from the district’s student advisory council on the screening committee, which if passed, would go to the entire school committee, who would make the final decision.

However, only the Ad Hoc chair, Chris Collins was in attendance, with School Committee Vice Chair Joesiah Gonzalez and committee member Barbara Gresham absent.

Now, while students from Thursday’s press conference accepted the Ad Hoc’s efforts to try respect the students’ wishes, they say it should not have taken this long to get students on the screening committee, something the school district had during the 2012 superintendent search.

Some students called this process rigged and corrupt, saying “we must restart this process.”

They also said they want a more independent law firm to go through the candidates that had applied for the position, including the candidates who were eliminated for not meeting minimum requirements.

One student, Naomi Edwards, said she would like to see herself and other students involved in the screening.

“The main thing with students is that the application to be a part of the screening committee was not advertised in a robust way, and it should have been because once again, there were no students selected on that committee. And instead, they chose parents that aren’t actually parents. And that’s a huge problem because we need students to choose their own superintendent.”

We also heard from Davian Pagan, another junior from Springfield Honors Academy.

He commended Gonzalez and the three other school committee members who did not show up for last week’s school committee meeting, and believes the committee has the power to start the search process over.

“The only way to actively communicate what you truly want is by your vote. I think they have the votes to change this, to restart this, and the only way we’ll know is if they hold the meeting, vote on it, and see it get passed.”

The Ad Hoc committee is expected to meet again at 5:00 p.m. on Monday to discuss this proposal for having student input on the screening committee.

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