Burbank School News and Announcements

Dear Burbank Elementary School Parents/Guardians,

As you know from his recent announcement, Mr. Okie has resigned his position as Principal and the role is currently vacant.  I am sure you join me in supporting Mr. Okie on his decision and extending best wishes to him.  I am thankful to Assistant Superintendent Janice Darias for her willingness to provide important building leadership during this transition period.

We want to assure you that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the transition to a new Principal is as smooth as possible.  To that end, we want you to know that we are doing the following things:

• On Monday, 10/25/2021 an “Interim Principal” position was posted.  We are currently in the process of reviewing applications and resumes.  To date, we have received 12 applications.  We will be considering all of them.
• We are also tapping into the applicant pool for a similar position that we have posted (Butler School, Interim Principal).  To date, we have received 18 applications for that open position.  Similarly, we will be considering all of those candidates.
• Additionally, we are networking with contacts we have in the field of education – the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS), The EDCO Collaborative, as well as personal contacts in local school districts.  From those efforts, 7 additional candidates have been identified.  We are in the process of reaching out to all of them currently to discuss interest, availability, qualifications, etc for this open interim position.
• We have a meeting scheduled with Burbank educators on Tuesday, 11/9/2021 @ 3:15pm to discuss their needs and preferences in a new school leader.

Our process will involve a balance of taking in input, working with urgency, and – as always – being as thorough and thoughtful as possible in our work.  We are seeking to appoint a qualified Principal who will serve in an interim capacity through June, 2022.  Early in the new year we will begin a more formal (and traditional) search process to hire a permanent position who will begin his/her work on July 1, 2022.  We will inform the Burbank School community as soon as we have an interim candidate selected and a start date established.

I hope that the above action steps provide you with the assurance that we will do our best to ensure that we hire the qualified and capable Principal that your children deserve – both in the short term and in the long term.

Respectfully,

John P. Phelan, Superintendent