Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021 EDUCATOR | FROM PAGE 1 interviews with four fi nalists over the past two weeks – including 90-minute interviews with each of the candidates on Monday (May 3) and Tuesday (May 4). The three other fi nalists who were considered for Saugus school superintendent were: Margo Ferrick, the Deputy Superintendent of Southbridge Public Schools since June 2017, a district which serves more than 2,000 students. She spent close to two decades working for Lowell Public Schools – more than 13 years as a social worker at Lowell High School. Frank Tiano, the current superintendent of Uxbridge Public Schools – a district that serves more than 1,700 students in grades prekindergarten through 12. He was looking for what would have been his third appointment as a superintendent during the last six years. Eric Tracy, the lone candidate among fi nalists who has no previous experience as a school superintendent. But the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School principal of more than seven years said his experience as an educator over the past three decades qualifi es him to lead Saugus Public Schools. Each of the four fi nalists received high praise from School Committee members. “If you threw darts on the board, any one of the four names that came up would have been somebody who had success in Saugus,” veteran School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski said during Wednesday night’s meeting. “In the very near future, they will be superintendents somewhere else. And they will, obviously, in my opinion, do a great job. They could have done the job here,” he said. Grabowski’s four committee colleagues all agreed they had confi dence that each of the candidates is well qualifi ed to run the School Department. “I just think all the candidates were exceptional,” Committee Member John Hatch said. “Any one of the candidates could have done a great job in our district,” he said. 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We Pay Cash For Your 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA LTZ Thomas Whittredge abstained from the vote because of a potential confl ict of interest, as his sister, Dawn Trainor, is the executive director of Pupil Personnel Services & Special Education – a high administrative position that reports directly to the superintendent. But Whittredge did praise his colleagues for “an unbelievable job” in selecting DeRuosi’s replacement. “The [Superintendent] Search Committee did a great job in vetting these candidates and bringing the best four forward,” Whittredge said. “I’m excited for the district,” he said. Committee Member Joseph “Dennis” Gould offered the motion to appoint McMahon, pending successful contract negotiations with her. “The last four candidates all had something to off er,” said Gould, who served as Vice-Chair of the Superintendent Search Committee. “Nothing negative to report,” Gould added, stressing that he is confi dent in all four fi nalists. But Gould noted that McMahon impressed him the most with the research she did on Saugus, her professional background, experience, knowledge of state funding that could help the district and her personal values. He said he considered her talent so exceptional that she could come to Saugus and “run this place tomorrow.” “This candidate – Ms. McMa“THIS IS THE JOB I WANT”: During a 90-minute interview with School Committee members this week, Erin McMahon made her case to become the next superintendent of Saugus Public Schools. (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) hon – certainly stood out from the crowd,” Grabowski said. “And just about everybody I spoke to over the last several days echoed that. There were no negatives about any of the other three candidates,” he said. McMahon’s take on Saugus During the interview on Tuesday, Whittredge asked McMahon what she thinks is “the most glaring issue” that she would seek to address if hired as Saugus superintendent. “The Number One issue or the Number One opportunity – focus on student achievement together with improving social emotional learning for both students and staff ,” McMahon said. “The purpose of school is for students to have an opportunity to become college and career-ready. And it’s our job as educators to get students there,” she said. “I have a history of raising student achievement and improving social emotional learning in all of the districts in which I have worked. And I see that as my greatest strength – really meeting the greatest needs of the Saugus community,” she said. McMahon earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She was a member of the Yale University Women’s Soccer Team and was Vice President of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. She received her Master of Business Administration, Finance and Operations at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. She also earned a Master of Science degree in Education Leadership from Pace University in New York City. In her current duties as senior advisor to Commissioner Riley, McMahon has been guiding the COVID-19 reentry process, making recommendations for health and safety, rapid response and remote learning. McMahon’s other duties include providing practical recommendations to district superintendents on how to plan for diff erent models of learning while monitoring the implementation and the quality of the reopening, tracking lead indicators of wellness/instruction. She worked six years as associate chief of academics and innovation in Denver Public Schools. She also served three years as a regional superintendent overseeing 6,200 students in 14 schools in that city. Before joining Commissioner Riley’s staff , she was the chief program offi cer/chief academic offi cer of Kipp Foundation, which involved 224 schools serving 115,000 students in New York City. McMahon continues to be an adjunct professor of Education Leadership in the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University in New York City. She teaches a graduate level business course in educational leadership that focuses on solving the human capital challenges of leading schools and school systems. As superintendent of Saugus Public Schools, McMahon said, she sees her role as “connecting and uniting constituencies” in the community. And that involves the town manager, the Board of Selectmen, police, fi re and other local government agencies – and especially with Saugus citizens. “We really have to listen to the constituents of Saugus,” she told School Committee members during Tuesday’s interview. “And what they told us is that schools and spaces for kids to play are incredibly important,” McMahon said. “And so we need to do the work to set up the bridge that actually delivers on what we have promised.” McMahon shared big expectations for her time in Saugus and said she “will stay until the job is done.” What does she want to be remembered for? “My legacy is developing leaders and developing high-quality staff,” she said.
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