By Ethan Forman
DANVERS — Winter will be just around the corner when a search for a new high school principal begins to replace Tom Murray.
Superintendent Lisa Dana told the School Committee this week said she expects the search process to take five months and start in December. Résumés would arrive in mid-January 2011, and Dana would then work with a screening committee on interviews, which should take about a month.
Timing of the hiring will also depend on visits to other school districts and the outcome of contract negotiations. She expected her choice to be introduced to the School Committee in March or April 2011.
The delay in seeking Murray's replacement — he announced in January he is leaving June 30 — stems from the massive Danvers High project, which will break ground this spring.
The project will be done in phases and require the entire high school program be shifted to the Dunn Wing at Danvers High's Cabot Road campus for the next two years. Much of the wing had been mothballed after the middle school moved out in 2005.
Dana plans to use a team of seasoned administrators for one year to fill Murray's job.
Four School Committee members present at a meeting Monday agreed with the transition plan. School Committee member Connie Pawlak, who spoke out against it last month, was out of town, and no parent spoke up Monday.
School Committee members said a principal search would distract administrators from the job of moving the high school to the Dunn wing.
"I don't want to see the administration, the talent in this room, out searching for a principal," School Committee member Bill Bates said.
School Committee member Eric Crane said it would not be fair to put someone unfamiliar with the district in charge of a high school in flux.
School Committee Chairman Arthur Skarmeas said there was no need to rush to fill the position, and it wasn't for the committee to micromanage the process, anyway.
In the interim year, Assistant Superintendent Susan Ambrozavitch will step into the principal's job while remaining the assistant superintendent.
"I have no doubt in my mind Mrs. Ambrozavitch will be successful as principal of the high school," Skarmeas said.
Ambrozavitch will get help from Senior Assistant Principal Mark Strout and an assistant principal who has yet to be hired; high school curriculum director Peggy McElhinney; and Holten Richmond Middle School Principal Michael Cali.
Cali will oversee the high school project, having served as the principal of Dunn Middle School when it moved from the Dunn Wing to a renovated Holten Richmond Middle School on Conant Street in 2005.
"We are poised to continue the forward momentum begun by Mr. Murray," said Ambrozavitch, who has been an educator for almost 25 years in various roles, including serving as the principal of the Smith Elementary School for 11 years.
Ambrozavitch, who has worked at the central office at the high school for almost three years, said she did not make the decision lightly to take on the dual role, which involves challenges that range from the transition to the Dunn Wing to addressing accreditation issues with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
"Our students will have a great high school experience," Ambrozavitch said.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or eforman@salemnews.com.
Danvers High Principal plan
As Danvers High moves to the Dunn Wing, it will do so without a permanent principal. In the interim, the job will be filled by a team led by Assistant Superintendent Susan Ambrozavitch. The following are some administrators who will play key roles:
Assistant Superintendent Susan Ambrozavitch
This year's job: Curriculum, grants, professional development
Next school year's job: Danvers High principal plus her other duties, with administrators helping out
Danvers High Assistant Principal Mark Strout
This year's job: Overseeing day-to-day high school operations
Next school year's job: Senior assistant principal assisting Ambrozavitch
Middle School Principal Michael Cali
This year's job: Holten Richmond Middle School Principal
Next school year's job: Overseeing Danvers High renovations plus leading the middle school
