School committee hires NESDEC to run superintendent search and establishes search committee

The North Smithfield School Committee voted Dec. 16 to engage NESDEC (New England School Development Council) to manage the district’s superintendent search and to form a search committee.

District staff said the NESDEC agreement (included in the packet) will advertise the position, screen applications for completeness, and forward candidates to the district for review. "They will advertise it, do email blasts, do it through a variety of associations," staff said, describing NESDEC’s executive‑search services.

The committee approved two related motions by roll call: one to retain NESDEC’s services and a second to establish a superintendent search committee composed of 2 school committee members, 2 central office administrators, 1 principal, 2 teachers, 1 community member and 1 parent. The transcript shows affirmative roll call votes from the committee.

Chair Bartimoli nominated herself and Chris Simpkins as the two school committee members on the search committee; the motion was seconded and approved. Committee members discussed recruitment for the community member and parent seat; staff said they would post a signup on the district website after the new year and accept volunteers.

Committee members also noted the engagement cost recorded in the packet; a figure presented in the meeting was discussed as $39.60 (the packet indicated a 20% discount off a higher listed price in earlier materials). The transcript records the cost discussion but does not contain a signed contract in the meeting minutes.

Next steps: staff will finalize the job description, post the search and accept volunteer signups for the community and parent representatives; NESDEC will process applications and return qualified candidates for committee review.