Interim school superintendent to be hired in Middleboro

MIDDLEBORO -- An interim school superintendent will be hired with a start date of  July 1,  Middleboro School Committee members agreed at their April 30 meeting.

This hiring will put a leader for the district in place quickly while allowing more time to search for a permanent replacement, committee members agreed.

A new permanent superintendent would begin July 1, 2027, a year after the interim starts, based on the committee’s timeline.

The possibility of hiring an interim school chief was proposed by Committee Chair Susan Pennini at a previous meeting.

She had expressed concern that the timeline to hire a new person to start July 1 might be too tight and did not allow ample time to make the best possible decision.

At that time, committee members agreed to survey the school community for feedback on whether to hire an interim or make a fast-track hiring of a permanent replacement.

The community agreed with the interim plan, which “allows more time to recruit candidates and is expected to produce a larger and potentially stronger candidate pool,’’ according to the description in the survey.

One hundred seventy four respondents supported the interim plan, while 101 respondents opted for a faster selection of a permanent person.

 “Neither of these choices is ideal,’’ Pennini said. Concerns have been expressed about the school community being without a permanent leader for more than a year.

Currently Michael Perrone, the district’s director of business and finance, serves as acting superintendent.

He was brought in to the acting role after previous superintendent Carolyn Lyons took a health-related leave in August 2025. She officially left the district in February.

Representatives from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees will serve as search coordinator for the interim position, Pennini said. The candidate would have at least a master's degree, a superintendent certification and at least 10 years of teaching and/or administrative experience, with three of them preferably in a superintendent or assistant superintendent role.

Questions were also raised about the salary for the interim position. A range of $190,000 to $220,000 was suggested by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Pennini said, based on other interim superintendent salaries.

In answering a question from resident Nancy Kefalis, Perrone said the superintendent salary was budgeted for $210,000. Karfoles noted that, if a salary of $220,000 was offered, the adiitonal $10,000 would “put a strain’’ on an already tight budget.

Pennini and committee members Leah Machado and Sean Mokeler agreed to look at the issue more closely before setting a final figure. Machado said the salary should not exceed the budgeted amount.

A search for a permanent superintendent would start in late September.