School leaders approve interim business manager posting, create 12-month lead coach role

The Blackstone-Millville School Committee voted unanimously July 11 to authorize administration to post an interim business manager position focused on finance for the 2022–23 school year and to reorganize instructional support to create a 12-month lead teaching-and-learning coach.

Superintendent Jason DeFalco said administrators received 28 applications for the assistant superintendent role but, after screening and two interviews, did not find a candidate they considered the right fit. "We're going to look to move in that direction and ask the committee to support that transition just for this one year," he told the committee, explaining the interim posting is meant to meet immediate fiscal needs while a full assistant-superintendent search is delayed until late winter.

The interim business manager posting is written "up to full time," DeFalco said, to broaden the candidate pool so the district can attract either a seasoned retiree working part time or a current assistant business manager willing to take on a full-time interim assignment. Administration noted any additional billable time during the transition would be paid from salary lines set aside for the vacant assistant-superintendent position when applicable.

As part of the same staffing-neutral reorganization, the committee approved converting one of the district's planning-teaching-and-learning coaches into a single 12-month lead coach. DeFalco emphasized the lead coach "will not be an administrative role" but a lead-teacher capacity to coordinate coaching and curriculum support across sites.

Committee members asked about duration and budget neutrality. Committee member Dan said the move is financially neutral for the coming year but warned that if the interim business manager later becomes a permanent hire at the assistant-superintendent salary level, the savings would not persist without further budget action. DeFalco and business-office staff said the reorganization reallocates existing dollars and is intended as a short-term fix accompanied by a later full search for assistant superintendent.

The committee approved the interim business manager job description and the lead coach contractual position by roll call; both motions passed unanimously. Administration said it will begin outreach and post the interim job soon and start a full assistant-superintendent search late winter when the candidate pool typically improves.

What's next: the district will post the interim-business-manager description and proceed with recruitment; the committee will revisit a full assistant-superintendent search in late winter.