Superintendent Search to be Done Without Consultant

The search for Seekonk's next school district superintendent will be done without any hired help. The School Committee voted 4-0 Monday night (Fran Creamer was not in attendance) against hiring an outside consultant for the effort.

"I think we have a pretty talented source of people in this district to be able to manage it internally and come up with pretty good candidates," Committee member John Bilodeau said.

Committee Chair Mitch Vieira added, "Nobody knows better what we need for the Seekonk School Department than those folks involved in the Seekonk School Department."

The district has been receiving unsolicited proposals from various consultants since Madeline Meyer resigned last month, Vieira said. The cost of hiring a consultant would be about $10,000 to $15,000, he said.

The price of doing the search in-house would be limited to the cost of posting notices. A committee composed of "district stakeholders" would conduct the search with the assistance of district staff.

Meyer's hiring in 2009 was done with the help of a consultant. Committee Vice Chair David Quinn said the district can review what that consultant did to determine what works and what doesn't.

Vieira said he would bring a list of candidates for the search committee at the next school committee meeting.

Meyer resigned May 18 despite having received a three-year contract extension two months earlier. No official reason has been given for her sudden departure, but various sources say the teachers union was prepared to take a no-confidence vote on Meyer due to multiple allegations of plagiarism.