Anthony Soto
Reminder Publishing screen capture by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — During the Holyoke School Committee meeting on Jan. 27, Anthony Soto was unanimously approved to serve as the interim superintendent.
Soto, a Holyoke native, was appointed as receiver/superintendent by the state in 2021.
With Holyoke Public Schools getting closer to exiting state receivership, Acting Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Russell Johnston sent a letter to the city and Mayor Joshua Garcia to allow the School Committee to vote on appointing an interim superintendent after the Local Control Subcommittee discussed the item.
Soto talked about being appointed and continuing the work he has been doing for the past few years.
Soto said, “I want to thank everyone. I think this has been a long journey, we’ve been all in it together, some more than others but I’ve expressed right from the beginning, even in my response to the commissioner when we talked about my recommendation to transition to local control, I made a commitment to this body and to the Holyoke community that I want to make sure whatever I play, I do everything I can to make sure it’s a strong transition and I’m glad we can continue making sure that happens and I appreciate your confidence in me.”
Contract negotiations are pending and At-Large School Committee member Devin Sheehan explained why this is the best move.
He said, “I don’t want to speak to intent of the subcommittee but summarizing some of the discussions with the state was that the key factor was that the commissioner wanted to see stability and his biggest concern, I’m paraphrasing what he said, was that he does not think it would be in the best interest of Holyoke that if we were to appoint an interim say me, and then to do a search and have another new person and then have multiple different transitions. He stressed the importance of stability for the district.”
Mayor Joshua Garcia also explained why the Local Control Subcommittee brought the recommendation of appointing an interim superintendent to the School Committee.
He said, “The idea when we were in the Local Control subcommittee because we’re talking about the advisory committee and the timeline and whether or not we’d be ready to do a formal search and hit the ground running for July 1 and then the whole conversation we had about capability. We’d pursue the interim contract so that it helps; it gives us some time so we’re not rushing the process.”
The interim appointment is set to last from July 1 through June 30, 2026. The School Committee also discussed a potential timeline for a permanent superintendent search.
They broke the potential process down into five phases and said the timeline can take between two to five months to complete not including procurement of consultant.
The phases include developing leadership profiles, recruiting candidates, screening candidates, evaluating the finalist and then an appointment.
A community advisory team is expected to receive feedback from stakeholders on qualifications and qualities they would like to see from their next superintendent.
Based on the timeline, November may be the earliest timeframe for issuing a job posting if the School Committee decides to begin the search in the fall. That would lead to a candidate being selected in January.
If the School Committee decides to do a spring search, the job would be posted in March and a candidate could be selected by May.
They also broke down what the difference processes would look like if they started the process in the spring or the fall and the benefits of each.
At-Large School Committee member Mildred Lefebvre said one of the reasons for the presentation was to let to public know that there is a process to find a superintendent and allow the community to give feedback on what they would like to see.
Garcia also explained he would like to not rush the process and said, “As we go forward, this transition to local control is a very delicate process and my biggest fear is just, as we go forward and try understanding this instability. I’m looking forward to hit the ground running when it’s time. I don’t want to shoot from the hip, I want to make sure we do this search right and not feel like we have to rush into it.”
