Annie Azarloza at a prior Northampton School Committee meeting.
Photo credit: Northampton Open Media
NORTHAMPTON — The School Committee has chosen Annie Azarloza as Northampton Public Schools’ next superintendent following a vote during a special meeting on April 30.
Azarloza will now enter into final negotiations with Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra.
She has a master’s in education from American Intercontinental University and is currently securing her doctorate in educational leadership with a focus on Health and Wellness from American College of Education.
She began her career in education as a teacher in 2005 before eventually working in school administrative positions over the last 15 years between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She served as superintendent of schools in Rochester, New Hampshire, during the 2024-25 school year and previously served as interim superintendent of the Stratford, Stark, Northumberland School District in New Hampshire.
Azarloza’s time as the Rochester superintendent sparked debate among School Committee members due to a recent controversy.
The city of Rochester filed a complaint for breach of contract in Strafford County Superior Court against Azarloza following her departure from the district. When she voluntarily resigned from the position at the end of that school year after having been placed on paid administrative leave in February 2025, Azarloza and the city entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims on June 23, 2025, which ended her employment and included provisions limiting additional public statements and releasing certain claims.
The city alleged in the complaint that Azarloza violated the agreement by making additional public statements, including comments made during a podcast appearance and on social media following her departure. The city also alleged that Azarloza filed a separate complaint against the Rochester School Department despite releasing such claims under the agreement. The lawsuit claimed breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and sought injunctive relief, attorney’s fees and costs.
The Rochester School District eventually commissioned a report to investigate Azarloza. The findings, released April 13, cleared Azarloza of the claims. The majority of committee members who voted for her said the report made them comfortable moving forward with her as the district’s next leader.
During the committee’s public interview with Azarloza on April 28, she acknowledged this information but could not delve into specifics. Still, she wanted to make a clear statement about the controversy.
“I know you all have looked me up, and you know what’s going on,” said Azarloza in reference to news reports on the complaint and subsequent report from her time as Rochester’s superintendent. “I have been fighting a long time for the release of my investigative report. I want you to know it was finally released on April 13, and I will say there was a reason I was fighting for it. And although I can’t talk about it, I encourage you all to look at it and see what I’ve always said that if there’s one thing I want to be remembered for when I retire, it’s my integrity, and I stand by that.”
The Northampton School Committee chose Azarloza from three candidates during its April 30 special meeting, voting 6-3-1. At large member Tiffany Jewell, Alena Bartoli of Ward 1, Amy Martyn of Ward 5, Cindy Mahoney of Ward 6, Valerie Reiss of Ward 7 and Sciarra, the chair, backed Azarloza.
Ward 2’s Anat Weisenfreund, Renika Montgomery-Tamakloe of Ward 3 and Michael Stein of Ward 4 voted for candidate Thomas Danehy. At large committee member Robbie Saner Sullivan was the lone vote for the third finalist, Bethany Silver.
Jewell said the district has an “intense need” for transparency and that all the candidates clearly prioritized this, but ultimately, she voted for Azarloza.
“Primarily because I’ve been thinking about what are the top priorities and that is around family engagement, and she has a clear plan for that. She’s curious, she’s open to hearing from all stakeholders and wants to have conversations,” said Jewell. “The other thing that is really important to me is listening to the experts in our schools, and I know that our union leadership is advocating for Annie Azarloza, too, and that feels really important to me as we’re hiring an expert to take on our schools, that I listen to the experts that are in our schools right now.”
A shared sentiment from the committee was that all three finalists were quality candidates despite some disagreements on the final choice.
“They each bring different strengths, and I feel strongly that any one of them would be an excellent leader. Tom Danehy’s experience with ACES really resonated. Annie Azarloza’s preparation and commitment to diverse learners was clearly evident. Bethany Silver’s compassion and data inference skills are a powerful combination. So, thank Bethany, Annie and Tom for making our decision such a difficult one,” said Mahoney. “As a School Committee member, I was elected to represent Northampton’s students, staff and caregivers. And there are no wrong choices here.”
Montgomery-Tamakloe said she was not on the committee to be popular; she was there to do what is right for students, which was why Danehy was her choice, crediting him as the only candidate who laid out their communication plan clearly and succinctly.
“He has his committee, he meets with them and he sends out that information after every meeting. He listens and validates what people say,” said Montgomery-Tamakloe. “He was the only one that, when talking about mentoring, talked about physiological safety and having outside coaching. One of the big issues in the district and why we’ve had to look outside of the district for a number of years for admin., is because we do not have coaching, and we do not have people who feel like they can grow in this district. Northampton should be growing leaders instead of importing them out of state.”
At the end of deliberations, Weisenfreund said she was not satisfied with the thinking behind backing Azarloza due to the controversy surrounding her.
“I’m a little perplexed, given that things have been so very difficult in our district, and so contentious, why wouldn’t we give our community some grace and select another extremely qualified candidate who doesn’t come to us right now at this point in time with so much baggage. What is it that is so incredibly convincing? We all agreed we have three very good candidates, three very qualified candidates. I’m not adverse to taking risks, but I don’t want to take that kind of risk here again because we just don’t know. I’m not judging her, but why do you feel compelled to take such a risk in the middle of a situation that is already so difficult here in our city when we have other really good choices?”
Committee member Valerie Reiss responded to Weisenfreund, saying it’s a good question for the “incredibly fragile” moment the district is in.
“I think, as has been said, every single candidate is a risk. I think with Azarloza, we know what we’re getting to a certain degree, and it has been explored, and she has been exonerated. Any of these candidates could run into something at some point. We just don’t know with any of them, so why not go with the one that some of us feel enthusiastic about and who our community has expressed connection with and enthusiasm for.”
Stein shared similar concerns with Weisenfreund.
“We have failed every term I’ve been on this committee on having a meaningful evaluation process and having any meaningful oversight or a shared understanding about how we manage someone as a collective body,” Stein said. “And so that ups the risk potentially in this choice as well, and I would like to be proven wrong that the risk didn’t pan out, but for posterity, these are the things that you’re going to hear if things do go wrong from the community.”
Azarloza will now enter into negotiations with the mayor to become the next superintendent of Northampton Public Schools. Recordings of the public interviews with candidates, as well as the April 30 special meeting and discussion leading to the selection of Azarloza, are available on the Northampton Government Video Archive YouTube channel.
