By Alex Malm
Londonderry will have an interim superintendent for one year after the School Board unanimously picked the current Assistant Superintendent Dan Black to fill the role during the April 19 School Board meeting.
Earlier this year current Superintendent Scott Laliberte announced that he would be retiring at the end of the school year. His last day is slated for July 1.
After Laliberte announced his retirement the Board hired The Bryan Group to help the School Board with the search in finding their next superintendent.
During the meeting Black was the one candidate that had a long interview.
Before coming to Londonderry Black served as the Assistant Superintendent for the Keene School District from 2013 to 2017.
One question that was asked was what programs and initiatives he was most proud of during his time as Assistant Superintendent.
Black said that when he got to Londonderry he was impressed with the commitment from the staff and community but said that they had to make some adjustments academically.
During his first couple of years he pointed to developing the portrait of a graduate program as a success.
Another program that he pointed to was response intervention which was a way to thoughtfully come up with ways to make sure every student is learning.
Black was also asked about the top priorities and challenges for the District and how to approach them.
He said that the hardest thing for the past two years was COVID-19 and said that because of it they got off track. He said that Londonderry is a very disciplined school district.
“Getting back to that normalcy and getting back to that discipline approach is a big lift for us,” said Black.
Aside from losing out on academics Black said that students also lost out on socialization. He said that they are continuing to look at what they can do about social and emotional learning.
Black said that he thinks they have been able to handle all the problems they have faced in the last two years due to COVID.
“I think our school system found a way to deal with every problem that came in front of us,” said Black.
Black was also asked about his role in budget development and management during his time in Londonderry.
He told the school board that while he was in Keene he was in charge of the budget each year.
“That is a big time consuming process,” said Black.
Black said that when he came to Londonderry he was more focused on academics but was in the room for budget development and was in an advisory.
He said that he is prepared to have a much larger role with the budget if given the position.
“I did it for four years straight in Keene,” said Black.
Those in attendance also had the chance to submit questions to the School Board to ask Black.
One question asked was when they would resume the search for a permanent superintendent.
School Board Chair Amy Finamore said that they would probably continue the search in August or September.
The School Board also unanimously approved for Finamore and Vice Chair Sara Loughlin to negotiate the final terms of Black’s contract based on the current superintendent’s contract.