Carpenter picked for interim L-S head

Published February 4, 2009 | Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee | Updated March 21, 2017 | Automatically Archived on 3/9/2009

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The Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee last night unanimously approved high school Housemaster Scott Carpenter to take over as interim superintendent-principal when Dr. John Ritchie retires in June.

Carpenter was offered a deal, with the specific length and payment negotiated in executive session after the meeting.

School Committee members said Carpenter, the only candidate for the job, excelled in his interview last week and his qualifications provides a good fit for the regional school. More than one member mentioned that the district is lucky to have him.

“He lives in the community, he understands the community,” said committee member Jack Ryan. “I think it’s a very unique situation and everybody I have heard from has been extraordinarily supportive of him.”

A housemaster and  a nine-year veteran of L-S, Carpenter started as a part-time teacher and part-time administrator.

He’s a “valuable commodity,” said member Mark Collins, noting the added benefit that Carpenter lives down the road in Sudbury.

Member Radha Gargeya listed qualities of being effective as both a superintendent and principal and said Carpenter’s experience as a teacher, housemaster, extracurricular club leader and involvement with the school committee in budget finances qualifies him for those jobs.

Member Eric Harris warned of how tough next year will be, but was among those who felt lucky to have Carpenter on board.

“Plus,” he added later, “We don’t lose any of the housemasters we have.”

Discussion preceded the vote to hire Carpenter regarding the length of the interim position contract. The committee appeared amenable to a two-year deal, but also talked about a one-year deal with an option for a second.

“Our job is to figure out what’s good for the school,” said Harris. “I am thinking [two years] is a really good compromise.”

As three years of an interim seemed too long of a time for the committee to offer, much of the talk centered around whether a consolidation of the Lincoln and Sudbury school districts could be achieved in one year and if that would be fair to present in a contract to Carpenter.

Although nothing was formally decided in open session, the temperature of the committee was that a one-year contract was unfair to the schools, to Carpenter and may impede the approval of whatever proposal is eventually presented at future Lincoln and Sudbury town meetings.
“You want some stability and some continuity,” said Gargeya. “I think a two-year contract would do it.”

Committee Chair Patty Mostue said Carpenter can hit the ground running rather than have somebody from the outside in the position that would have to spend time learning how the high school and district works.

“Scott’s commitment to the kids are profound and it’s to the kids you don’t hear about,” said Ritchie.

In other business Tuesday, L-S Director of Finance and Operations Judy Belliveau reported some good fiscal news. Since L-S is in a collaborative to negotiate health insurance, the schools received a 6 percent rate, which is better than the 9 percent that Belliveau projected. The cost-savings, she said, amounted to more than $130,000, which would factor into a “no override” budget scenario that possibly adds 2.3 full-time equivalent positions back into the mix.