News

Springfield makes superintendent pick; McLaughlin chooses next post

By Patrick Adrian and Jordan J. Phelan
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Springfield School Board is in discussions with New Hampshire school administrator Sherri Nichols to take the helm as the district’s next superintendent.

At a special meeting this week the Springfield board voted unanimously to offer the superintendent position to Nichols, who currently serves as the director of teaching and learning in the Manchester School District.

“I think we are very fortunate to have found somebody with the history and the right attitude that I believe our students, our staff, and the whole town needs,” said board Vice-chair Michael Griffin. “I’m very excited about what she could bring to the table and to bring our district to the next level.”

The school board initially hoped to interview two finalists, though the Superintendent Search Committee only found Nichols to be qualified for final consideration, according to Springfield School Board Chair Troy Palmer.

Though Nichols visited the district on Thursday, Feb. 10, where she interviewed with the school board and met with students and district staff, she is not new to the area. Nichols previously served as assistant principal of Flood Brook Union School in Londonderry from 2007-2012, director of curriculum, instruction, assessment, PD for Windsor Southwest Supervisory Union in Chester from 2012-2013, and principal of Chester-Andover Elementary School in Chester from 2013-2015.

Palmer described Nichols as “an outstanding candidate.”

“I was very impressed with her during the interview process,” Palmer said. “She was very knowledgeable and presented herself well and had a lot of confidence in what she was speaking about.”

Though the parties are still engaged in contract discussions, Palmer told the Eagle Times on Friday that he expects there to be an announcement next week regarding the position.

The Springfield School Board began the process in May of 2021 to find a successor to Superintendent Zach McLaughlin, who is finishing his ninth school year as Springfield’s top administrator.

In January 2021, the school board chose to part ways with McLaughlin when the majority of the board voted not to renew his contract. The board’s decision was heavily criticized by a large number of residents and educators, some of whom said they felt “blindsided” by the suddenness of the action.

On Monday, McLaughlin, a current resident of Brattleboro, accepted the superintendent position in the Portsmouth School District, according to the Portsmouth Herald. Mclaughlin will replace departing superintendent Steve Zadravec, who is leaving his position this summer after seven years in the role.

McLaughlin turned down multiple offers from other area school districts to accept the Portsmouth position, including the Harwood Unified Union School District, which serves the communities of Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren, and Waterbury; the Rutland School District in Rutland; and the Washington Central Unified Union School District in Montpelier, which serves the communities of Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, and Worcester.

McLaughlin agreed to a one-year contract extension this year in Springfield to help the school district transition to new leadership during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In June 2020, the Vermont Superintendents Association named McLaughlin the Vermont Superintendent of the Year.

reporter @eagletimes.com

Avatar photo

As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.