Two finalist candidates for the next Concord School District superintendent have withdrawn their names from consideration for the position, suspending the search process, the school board president wrote in a letter to families Thursday.
Concord School Board President Jenny Patterson said both candidates – whose names have not been released publically – said they felt a commitment to stay with their current districts and see their school community through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What happens now?” Patterson wrote. “As you can imagine, the departure of both of our finalists is a disappointment and a setback, though we respect and appreciate the difficult situation they are in.”
A screening committee began the search process in February by reviewing 17 applications that came to Concord School District through the New England School Development Council (NESDEC). As finalists were identified to move forward in the process, the pandemic shut down schools. The final candidates expressed hesitancy about having their names being made public during the transition to remote learning.
Patterson said the school board will re-start the search process in the months to come with the help of NESDEC. Patterson said a first step will be working with the consulting agency to identify new interim superintendent, so that Dr. Franklyn Bass – who has filled in as head of the district for the last 6 months – may re-enter retirement “on a schedule that works for everyone.”
In her letter, Patterson thanked the community members who participated in the search process either by attending a focus group session, volunteering on the search committee or providing feedback through the superintendent search survey.
Bass, a career educator from Manchester, has led the district as interim superintendent since former superintendent Terri Forsten’s resignation in early November.