Wednesday, April 8, 2015
(Published in print: Thursday, April 9, 2015)
(Published in print: Thursday, April 9, 2015)
NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Regional School District has picked a new superintendent.
The School Committee will soon begin to work out a contract with Ruth Miller, the current superintendent of the Narragansett Regional School District.
Miller has 21 years in education. She’s been superintendent of Narragansett 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.
Miller was one of four finalists out of 15 applicants for the position. By Wednesday’s School Committee meeting, one finalist had withdrawn, and another accepted a job in another district. Francis Baran, superintendent of the Woodstock, Conn., public schools, remained in the running.
Miller was chosen in a 9-2 vote, with Jim Bell and John Rogers voting against Miller.
The committee said both were strong candidates for the position, and several members said they’d be happy with either candidate as their new superintendent.
However, several women on the committee felt that they’d been ignored by Baran during interviews and meet-and-greets, and said they found him less approachable than Miller. The five men on the 12-member board said they found Baran approachable.
Several members said they felt Miller’s experience in the Massachusetts educational system was a strong asset, since Connecticut schools have different standards. Many were also impressed with Miller’s degree in business, which Baran lacked. Many members felt that, if Baran was chosen, the district should hire a business manager to assist in budgeting and other matters.
Also in Miller’s favor was the makeup of her district, which serves grades pre-K through 12 in Templeton and Phillipston. Baran’s district serves K-8, with high school grades going to the semi-private Woodstock Academy, over which Baran has no authority.
Both candidates had said they planned to stay at Pioneer for the long-term if hired. Miller said she plans to work for at least eight years before retiring. She also said she has not applied for any other jobs and, if not chosen for Pioneer, she’d stay at Narragansett. Baran said Pioneer would be the “end of the line” for him, though he did not specify how long he planned to work before retiring.
After picking Miller, the School Committee went into executive session to discuss how they would go about negotiating a contract.
You can reach David Rainville at: drainville@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 279 On Twitter, follow @RecorderRain
WOO HOO SEE YA!!!!!
ReplyDeletethank you, pioneer valley!!!!! hide your wallets !!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell Ruth Miller is now the The Pioneer Valley Regional School District problem. I will not miss you Ruth Miller. Thank you Pioneer Valley for taking her off our hands.
ReplyDeleteThe Pioneer Valley School District had better put a double lock on any money that is needed for other things in the community, because they will learn whatever the towns give this school district, it will never be enough. I do hope they require this woman to live in the community, so she can't run out of town to avoid the pain she has caused. Now the people in our town are left to clean up the unfinished messes Ms. Miller has left us. How desperate does the next person have to be, to walk in to the unfinished, expensive projects Ms. Miller has left behind ?? It will come out in the wash. Bev.
DeleteLand for a school, how hard could that be to come up with ? How much has running around in circles, dumping money here and there, in the search for the right place, cost the taxpayers of this town ? Well, I am sorry if you think that answer will come from me, because I don't know. I has a case of shell shock at 230,000. a long time ago. So, Bart and I went by the Templeton Center School the other day when school was letting out. Cars, busses, kids were every where, including people trying to go up and down South Road. This is not a good situation on a good day, never mind adding snow banks. I thought about the time I went behind the houses on Wellington Road, with some other friends. [many many years ago] I remember a big open space that must of been used by the Templeton Inn and the other houses on The Common for their sewer. I ran across a Town Meeting article from Oct.30,1961. Article 4 It was moved and seconded that the Selectman be authorized to acquire for sewage disposal purposes certain tract of land constituting part of the "Leland Lot", so called and now belonging to Herman G. and Ella Stone comprising twenty acres, more of less and described as follows: Bounded on the North by land formerly of Blodgett and land of Ernest Kendall on the East by land of Maynard and land formerly of the Village Improvement Society, on the South by other land of the grantors on the West by the Barre Road and more particularly shown on a plan duly filed with the Town Clerk, and appropriate from available funds the sum of $600. to finance such acquisition, the vote was unanimous. Well, I got the plan from the Assessors Office and gave it to Julie. She in turn gave it to our Administrator. One person I spoke to said the the land had been looked at previously. I think they should look again, if they plan to have a new school in my life time. It is Town owned land, has frontage on Barre Road, so you never know. The options are limited. Bev.
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