By Suzanne Bates
The Nashua School Board chose Bedford School District’s chief financial officer as its next superintendent on Monday, June 1.
If he accepts the offer, Mark Conrad will take over the second largest school district in the state when current Superintendent Christopher Hottel leaves to head the North Andover, Mass., school district starting July 1.
Conrad has headed the finance department in Bedford since 2006. Before that, he was a business administrator for the Nashua school district for more than 10 years.
Nashua School Board Chairman Tom Vaughan cited Conrad’s experience with the district as one of the reasons the board chose him for the top job. Conrad’s children also attend Nashua’s public schools.
“We had four strong candidates, but we think that Mark is our best candidate,” said Vaughan.
Conrad does not have experience in the classroom or as a superintendent, but Vaughan said positive testimony from teachers and administrators in the district convinced a majority of the board that he was capable of making good decisions.
One of the qualities the School Board was looking for in a candidate was willingness to stay in the district for a significant period of time. Before Hottel, who has been superintendent or acting superintendent for almost three years, Nashua went through a tumultuous 18-month period with Julia Earl at the helm.
Earl left the district amidst lawsuits and controversy after some charged she used public funds for unnecessary out-of-state travel. She was given a $250,000 buyout package.
During testimony in front of the School Board, Conrad said he was willing to commit to 15 years as superintendent.
Vaughan said the district wouldn’t necessarily hold him to that, but said he believed Conrad would stay “for a number of years.”
The other three top candidates were Brian Cochrane, Nashua’s director of accountability and assessment; Kathleen Murphy, the state Department of Education’s director of instruction; and Robert Reidy, superintendent of the Mahopac Central School District in New York.
The Nashua School Board chose Bedford School District’s chief financial officer as its next superintendent on Monday, June 1.
If he accepts the offer, Mark Conrad will take over the second largest school district in the state when current Superintendent Christopher Hottel leaves to head the North Andover, Mass., school district starting July 1.
Conrad has headed the finance department in Bedford since 2006. Before that, he was a business administrator for the Nashua school district for more than 10 years.
Nashua School Board Chairman Tom Vaughan cited Conrad’s experience with the district as one of the reasons the board chose him for the top job. Conrad’s children also attend Nashua’s public schools.
“We had four strong candidates, but we think that Mark is our best candidate,” said Vaughan.
Conrad does not have experience in the classroom or as a superintendent, but Vaughan said positive testimony from teachers and administrators in the district convinced a majority of the board that he was capable of making good decisions.
One of the qualities the School Board was looking for in a candidate was willingness to stay in the district for a significant period of time. Before Hottel, who has been superintendent or acting superintendent for almost three years, Nashua went through a tumultuous 18-month period with Julia Earl at the helm.
Earl left the district amidst lawsuits and controversy after some charged she used public funds for unnecessary out-of-state travel. She was given a $250,000 buyout package.
During testimony in front of the School Board, Conrad said he was willing to commit to 15 years as superintendent.
Vaughan said the district wouldn’t necessarily hold him to that, but said he believed Conrad would stay “for a number of years.”
The other three top candidates were Brian Cochrane, Nashua’s director of accountability and assessment; Kathleen Murphy, the state Department of Education’s director of instruction; and Robert Reidy, superintendent of the Mahopac Central School District in New York.
The Nashua School Board chose Bedford School District’s chief financial officer as its next superintendent on Monday, June 1.
If he accepts the offer, Mark Conrad will take over the second largest school district in the state when current Superintendent Christopher Hottel leaves to head the North Andover, Mass., school district starting July 1.
Conrad has headed the finance department in Bedford since 2006. Before that, he was a business administrator for the Nashua school district for more than 10 years.
Nashua School Board Chairman Tom Vaughan cited Conrad’s experience with the district as one of the reasons the board chose him for the top job. Conrad’s children also attend Nashua’s public schools.
“We had four strong candidates, but we think that Mark is our best candidate,” said Vaughan.
Conrad does not have experience in the classroom or as a superintendent, but Vaughan said positive testimony from teachers and administrators in the district convinced a majority of the board that he was capable of making good decisions.
One of the qualities the School Board was looking for in a candidate was willingness to stay in the district for a significant period of time. Before Hottel, who has been superintendent or acting superintendent for almost three years, Nashua went through a tumultuous 18-month period with Julia Earl at the helm.
Earl left the district amidst lawsuits and controversy after some charged she used public funds for unnecessary out-of-state travel. She was given a $250,000 buyout package.
During testimony in front of the School Board, Conrad said he was willing to commit to 15 years as superintendent.
Vaughan said the district wouldn’t necessarily hold him to that, but said he believed Conrad would stay “for a number of years.”
The other three top candidates were Brian Cochrane, Nashua’s director of accountability and assessment; Kathleen Murphy, the state Department of Education’s director of instruction; and Robert Reidy, superintendent of the Mahopac Central School District in New York.