Gill-Montague School Committee Interviews Superintendent Candidate in Virtual Session

GILL — March 23, 2020 — Gill-Montague School Committee interviewed a superintendent candidate in a virtual session amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The candidate, identified only as Brian, drew on his record as principal at Hopkins Academy in Hadley and Mohawk Trail Regional High School, citing a graduation rate increase from 60 to 81 percent over three years at one prior school and a reduction in student restraints from 228 to two after his district ended a contracted special education program and brought services in-house. He described a $3 million board of trustees endowment at Hopkins Academy that had generated roughly $40,000 in grants to that school alone over six years. Committee members asked 13 questions; two members — identified as Mike Langnett and Kimmy — participated in writing because they could not attend the virtual meeting. The candidate noted he had applied for the same superintendency approximately seven years earlier before withdrawing.