Gloucester's superintendent of schools has landed a new job as head of the Byfield-based Triton Regional School District, and has accepted the post, effective July 1.
Christopher Farmer, who has led the city's schools for the past seven years, was named late Friday night to become Triton's new leader.
After interviewing both Farmer and fellow finalist Kelly Clenchy of Maine, the Triton Regional School Committee debated its choice for about an hour, Committee Chairman Ed Mavragis said Saturday — then voted 8-1 to confirm that Farmer was their choice.
Mavragis and Farmer both said Saturday they expect to firm up a contract this week, possible as early as tomorrow. After accepting the Triton position Friday night, Farmer withdrew his name as a finalist for the Arlington superintendent position. He was to be interviewed for that position today.
Outgoing Triton Superintendent Sandra Halloran's salary had been pegged at $151,380, while Farmer's pay in Gloucester is $145,000 — the highest salary paid to any city employee. Halloran has announced her retirement as of October. Farmer, however, will become the district's superintendent of record as of the July 1 starting date — also the start of the new fiscal year.
"We're thrilled — very enthusiastic," Mavragis said of the committee's choice. "After the interviews, our deliberations just confirmed what three of us had felt when we visited the Gloucester schools (as part of the search process): that's the sense that he's very committed to the public schools and all of their students."
"I applaud the efforts of the search committee and the School Committee," said Bob Snow, who was a member of the 17-person superintendent search committee and is vice chairman of selectmen in Rowley. "The words I used in my notes to describe Farmer during the initial interviews were erudite, polished and approachable. I think the Triton community will be very pleased with the choice of Christopher Farmer as the new superintendent."
Farmer, 66, said Saturday he is excited about the appointment.
"With any appointment, it's always a question about a fit," Farmer said. "At the end of the day, it's if the community thinks you're going to be a fit for them, and for the applicant, it's a question of how you see yourself as fitting into the district and the community.
"This seemed to be a wonderful new challenge and opportunity, and a very good fit," he said.
Farmer emphasized that he has nothing but praise for the Gloucester schools' "administrative team" and his supporters.
"I have a wonderful administrative team here, and will be very reluctant to leave them," he said. "I shall always be grateful to Gloucester for giving me this wonderful opportunity for the past seven years, and for the support I've received as well."
He added, however, he was also "very impressed" with the senior administrative team in the Triton district, which is based in Byfield and includes the communities of Salisbury, Newbury and Rowley.
"I'm very much looking forward to working with them," he said.
As for how Farmer will approach his first days on the job, he said, "I will listen and ask questions and make no assumptions. Then I will work with the leadership and School Committee on what the priorities are and move forward with great vigor."
Farmer's bid for the Triton superintendency was the second in which he reached the level of finalist; he and Clenchy were both among the four finalists for the superintendent's post in Andover, where the School Committee chose former Andover assistant and current Hamilton-Wenham superintendent Marinel McGrath March 4.
The two Triton finalists had carried different backgrounds to the final interview process. While Farmer has led a school district within the Massachusetts educational framework for seven years, Clenchy was the only candidate of Triton's seven interviewed semifinalists who carried experience leading a regional school district; she is the superintendent at Rural School Unit No. 26, which covers Orono, Veazie and Glenburn, Maine.
Farmer visited the Triton district and met town officials, school parents and community members there last Thursday; Clenchy did the same Friday afternoon, hours before the board made its decision. The Triton district includes a high school, middle school and three elementary schools covering its three towns.
In his seven years as Gloucester's superintendent, Farmer and the district have often faced a variety of challenges — from a series of budget cuts to dealing with a bid by a group of local residents to launch the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School.
He has overseen a controversial consolidation and redistricting of the city's schools — including the conversion of Fuller School to an exclusively fifth-grade facility, then its 2008 closure as a classroom building altogether. He has also led the passionate fight against the launch of a charter school that he and others say will cost the district's other schools some $2.4 million annually once the Gloucester Community Arts Charter School becomes fully enrolled. Backers of the charter school, which will hold a lottery drawing to determine its first admissions today, have adamantly disputed Farmer's and the city's portrayal of the new school's fiscal impact.
Farmer played the lead role last year in unearthing one of two key documents that turned the oversight spotlight onto the process that led to the state's charter school approval. It was he who filed the "access to public records" request that found that the state's own Charter School Office had found that the Gloucester application had not met the criteria needed for approval. Another access request from the Times also found an e-mail from governor's Education Secretary Paul Reville to state Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester urging that he recommend the Gloucester charter for approval to advance the governor's education "agenda."
Prior to taking the Gloucester post — where he took over from former Superintendent Thomas Consolati — Farmer had served as principal of Redwood Middle School, part of the Saratoga Unified School District in Saratoga, Calif., for six years. He was also superintendent of schools in Coventry, England, from 1987 to 1994, and taught geography, English and history in his native England.
He received a bachelor of arts degree and master of arts degree in geography, archaeology and anthropology from Great Britain's University of Cambridge.
Triton school board chief Mavragis said that both the search committee and overall School Committee for the regional district were enthusiastic about Farmer from the start.
"You could see, just by walking through the schools (with him), that he really seemed to connect with the kids — and with the staff as well," Mavragis said. "He's a tremendous advocate for the schools and the students, and we're very much looking forward to having him as our superintendent."
Staff writer Michelle Marshall contributed to this story.
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