THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2021 Page 3 DeRuosi gets interim superintendent’s job in New Hampshire after “retiring” from Saugus By Mark E. Vogler S augus Public Schools Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi, Jr., had planned to retire at the end of the month, concluding a five-year stint as the leader of the town’s public education system. But he won’t be retiring any time soon from a career as an educator that has spanned more than three decades. The School Board in Raymond, N.H., announced this week that DeRuosi has been hired to serve as interim superintendent and will begin his new assignment on July 1. Part of his duties will be to assist Raymond school officials in finding a permanent replacement for Tina McCoy, who will be retiring at the end of the school year. “We are extremely fortunate to have Dave lead the district on an interim basis,” McCoy said. “He has a fantastic background that will serve him well in this role, and I know that he will work well with the entire organization to keep building on the district’s successes during this transition,” she said. About two thirds of DeRuosi’s 37 years as an educator involve administrative experience. Before coming to Saugus, DeRuosi worked as Superintendent of Malden Public Schools for five years. Previously, he worked as the assistant superintendent of Revere Public Schools and also served as principal of Revere High School and as an assistant principal for the district. Dr. DeRuosi was a special education teacher during the first eight years of his career. “We are thrilled to welcome someone with as much experience and knowledge as David to our school system,” Raymond School Board Chair Joe Saulnier said. "We are very pleased to have him alongside us during this time of transition for the district, and are confident he will be a capable and strong leader here in Raymond,” Saulnier said. Dr. DeRuosi received his doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts in Boston after completing the Leadership in Urban Schools Doctoral Program. He received his master’s in School Administration from Salem State College and his Bachelor of Science degree in Speech and Hearing from Northeastern University. A SHOW OF APPRECIATION: Saugus Public Schools Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi, Jr. (left) gets a hug from Saugus High School Principal Michael Hashem after receiving an honorary Saugus High diploma last Friday. DeRuosi will head to Raymond, N.H., on July 1 – the day after he retires from Saugus. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) “I am looking forward to coming to Raymond and joining the great team they have in place,” DeRuosi said. “This is a great opportunity not only to help Raymond find the best possible person to serve as their new superintendent, but also to help the district continue to move forward while that search takes place, and I can’t wait to get started.” What will be DeRuosi’s legacy? Saugus School Committee Vice-Chair Ryan Fisher said he learned about DeRuosi’s new job this week after reading local newspaper accounts. He said he wasn’t surprised. “I wish him much success,” Fisher said. “I don’t think he's the type to tinker around the house. He’s young and I’m sure he’ll want to try his hand at quite a few things over the next few years,” he said. Fisher noted that he ran for School Committee two years ago, influenced in part by DeRuosi’s handling of the privatization of the school custodians, which eliminated 21 jobs. “Like many superintendents, divisive incidents happened on his watch; he made decisions that weren’t publicly popular, and he absorbed a lot of personal criticism,” Fisher said. “I had a unique perspective. I ran in part because of the handling of the custodian issue, and now we’re working together. Even on days when we disagreed, he was professional, opened with a joke and kept pushing forward to whatever we had to fix next,” he said. DeRuosi may be best remembered for helping to lead the public campaign for a new Saugus Middle-High School and overseeing the transformation of the school district as the town moved into new and improved school facilities, according to Fisher. “Dr. DeRuosi’s legacy will reflect that on his watch we had five years of stability in the corner office, that we overhauled from a seven buildings district to three, from outdated to state-ofthe-art facilities, in the middle of a global pandemic, during a tough budget year, and we avoided the widespread layoffs that were common in other districts.” When he announced his retirement from Saugus last year, DeRuosi pledged to help Saugus school officials find his replacement and offered to help in the transition to the next superintendent. The School Committee has approved a five-year contract to pay Erin McMahon about $1 million to run Saugus Public Schools. She takes over officially on July 1 – the start of the 2022 fiscal year.
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