NORTHFIELD — After a closed-door search, three finalists for superintendent of Pioneer Valley Regional School District have emerged.
All are New England educators with decades of experience. One will replace outgoing Superintendent Dayle Doiron.
Francis Baran is the superintendent of the Woodstock, Conn., public schools. Baran has been an educator for 42 years, including 12 years as superintendent, 18 years as principal and 12 years as a teacher. His one-town district has an enrollment of 1,350 in three schools — a Pre-K-4 elementary school, grade 5-8 middle school and a high school.
Douglas Diaz is principal of Medway High School and has 23 years as an educator. He’s been the school’s top administrator for 17 years and spent five years as a teacher. Diaz’s school has an enrollment of about 800 in grades 9-12 and 86 employees.
Ruth Miller is superintendent of the Narragansett Regional School District in central Massachusetts, with 21 years in education. She’s held that position for three years, and was associate superintendent for three years before that. She has also served as principal for 10 years, and held other educational jobs for five years. Her district covers Templeton and Phillipston, with three elementary schools, a middle school and high school.
Search consultant Bill Erickson said the search committee considered 15 applicants before coming up with its recommendations. A fourth candidate also made it to the final round, but withdrew.
He said the search has been a quiet process to encourage people to apply. State law allows candidates names to be kept private until they become finalists.
The rest of the process will be conducted in public.
Each candidate will visit the five Pioneer schools next week and be interviewed by the School Committee the same evening. Baran will visit the district Tuesday, Diaz will come Wednesday, and Miller will visit Thursday.
The public will have a chance to interview the candidates the following week.
A contingent of the School Committee will travel to each candidate’s current school district and speak with their colleagues to get a sense of the applicant.
Doiron said all the candidates who have made it this far are qualified. Now, she said, the School Committee just needs to decide who best fits the Pioneer district and the length of the initial contract.
Administrator contracts are typically three years long, Doiron said. She advised against a single-year contract.
“The first year is about getting acclimated,” she said. “In the second year, you get to see them in action, and can start to make judgments about continued employment.”
Committee members and district officials hope to wrap up the selection process quickly and make an offer before another district hires their candidates away.
“It’s imperative to do this as soon as possible,” said Assistant Superintendent Gail Healy. “It will be advantageous for us, because we’ll have our choice.”
You can reach David Rainville at: drainville@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 279 On Twitter, follow @RecorderRain
Jeff Bennett
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