Agreement is reached with new assistant superintendent

Transition in the central office at the Nantucket Public Schools appears to have come to a close with the decision to hire Dr. Carlos Colley as the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Positions remain unfilled at the elementary school and in the technology department.

Dr. Carlos Colley, above, was the unanimous choice for the assistant superintendent position. CHRIS EDMONDS/The Independent Colley will work with Dr. Robert Pellicone, who was hired as a deputy superintendent a year ago and in May given a five-year contract by the School Committee to become the district's superintendent. Current superintendent Alan Myers will officially end his tenure as NPS superintendent on Aug. 31, at which point Pellicone's new contract will take effect.

According to Pellicone, Colley was the unanimous choice for the assistant superintendent position by the search committee composed of faculty, administrators and parents that interviewed semifinalist and finalist candidates. Colley accepted the position on June 16 but as of Monday afternoon remained in contract negotiations. He met with the School Committee at Tuesday evening's meeting.

"I've worked in schools for years and years and years," said Colley on Monday afternoon. "I wanted to get into the curriculum and staff development. I've always been interested in those two pieces because partly that's where the rubber meets the road - What are the teachers doing with the students? What do we need to provide the teachers with in terms of a workable curriculum? What do teachers need in order to develop that curriculum and present it to the kids? When you come down to it, it's the people who are going to be teaching the kids who are going to make the school a successful place."

Colley has served as a building principal in Amsterdam, N.Y. (19921996), Chilmark, Mass. (2001-2004) and Loudonville, N.Y. (2004-2005). He served as assistant principal in Oak Bluffs, Mass. from 1996 through 1999. He worked as the assistant superintendent for business affairs for the Martha's Vineyard Schools from 2000 to 2001.

Before moving into school administration, Colley taught science in Fort Plain, N.Y., Clifton Park, N.Y. and Stuart, Fla. He holds a bachelor of science in biology, masters of science in science teaching and in school administration and a doctorate in school administration, all from the State University of New York at Albany. Colley spent the last year attending to family issues in New York.

Among his accomplishments, Colley said that he has a "knack" for grant writing, which has allowed him in various capacities throughout his career to pilot new educational programs for students and teachers with minimal effect on the taxpayer.

"I've been able to use that to fund programs to fit into system, but rather than put them on the back of the budget, you get something like a grant to try out with a few people, like a pilot. If it's successful, it will take on a life of its own," said Colley. "Sometimes we hit on something as administrators, as educators, as teachers that we feel comfortable with, but I'm a little bit more cautious. I want to make sure that it's good for the system, not just for one or two people or one building. You want to make sure in the long run that the effects are going to be felt throughout."

Colley, a native of Puerto Rico, cited a return to island living among the personal attractions to the position. A fisherman and diver, he hopes to bring his 18foot Boston Whaler to Nantucket when he takes up residence in the teacher housing.

The district is still in the process of replacing Nancy Larrabee as elementary school principal. Larrabee will succeed Jack Molloy as the schools' athletics director in July. Of the 26 applicants for the NES principal position, fourteen were offered interviews on the island, of which eight accepted the invitation. The first round of interviews began the week of June 5. Pellicone said that he expects a second round of interviews, which will include faculty and parents, to begin within the next two weeks.

Pellicone said the administration was "pleased on paper" with the applicants to date, but said it was too early in the process to determine who among the pool of candidates would best fit the position at the elementary

school. The schools will not meet their intended deadline to have a new elementary school principal in place by July 1 and plan to use an interim principal until a permanent one is hired, he added.

The search for the elementary school's next supervisor for curriculum and instruction will not begin until a principal for NES has been hired. The new position replaces Donna Buchmann, former NES assistant principal, who will be transferred within the district for the 2006-2007 school year.

The schools director of technology position remains vacant after the person the district wished to hire did not accept the offer, said Pellicone. Bill Oliver will retire from the position effective June 30. The district will use Oliver as a consultant until a permanent replacement is hired, said Pellicone.

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