EASTHAMPTON — Noting that he had a unique skill set that the city’s schools need in a new leader, or what one member called that “special sauce,” the School Committee voted to hire Vito Perrone as the district’s new superintendent in the wee hours of Friday morning.

The split 4-3 vote came an hour before his official acceptance at 12:30 a.m., a few hours after the committee wrapped up interviewing Perrone, the last of three finalists it peppered with questions this week. Another of those candidates, Erica Faginski-Stark, impressed three committee members during her interview Wednesday. The difference led to a lively and, at times, feisty debate among the seven-member committee.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Perrone, who served as Easthampton High School principal eight years ago. With an enthusiastic grin during his in-person interview, Perrone looked nostalgically around the high school library and told committee members that he had so many memories of the building that he helped create when he was principal.

“When I walked in this building today to meet with a group, I felt like I was coming home,” Perrone said. “I don’t think I could have kept the smile off my face if I tried.”

The Westhampton resident spent the day meeting community members and city workers to get a better understanding of who he’d be working for and with, then fielded a series of 21 questions from the School Committee.

He told members how excited he was at the opportunity to return to the city as superintendent. Currently serving as the interim superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools, Perrone cited some of the accomplishments from his tenure at Easthampton High, including shifting the school’s ranking from Level 3 to Level 1 as a result of improved performance on Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.

“That’s because of us, of what we did. Empowering teachers. Creating a place where people trusted each other enough to work together to move us forward in a positive way. That’s what I want to do,” he said. “That’s why I want to be superintendent here.”

Perrone also referenced how former Easthampton students had asked him to come back to speak at graduation for the class of 2017. Though he was not available for the original date of graduation, the class got together a petition with more than 100 signatures to move the graduation ceremony date so he could be the guest speaker.

Committee debates

Following the two-hour interview, the committee reviewed each of the finalists and provided their impressions.

In addition to Perrone and Faginski-Stark, director of curriculum and instruction at Ludlow Public Schools, the committee interviewed Jonathan Bruno, director of learning and teaching at Berkshire Hills Regional School District in Stockbridge, on Tueday night.

“This is going to be a tough decision and tough conversation tonight,” said School Committee Chairperson Cynthia Kwiecinski, praising the work of the search committee. “But that’s a good thing, because we had three very, very strong candidates.”

In considering Perrone, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said his unique experience and perspective — including a position at a correctional facility — would bring value to the district.

Before his time in Easthampton, Perrone taught in the public school system in Carson City, Nevada as well as the Northern Nevada Correctional Center. He called his experience teaching those incarcerated in the medium-security prison an “awakening.” The diverse population provided him with some of his best conversations about literature, juxtaposing Machiavelli with Tupac, he said.

“Those guys, when they were sparked and turned on to literature, it was awesome,” he said. “When those men were given an opportunity to be educated, they didn’t come back to prison. Flat out. The recidivism rate drops when people become educated.”

Favorites emerged almost immediately at the beginning of the committee’s review of candidates, with the majority eliminating Bruno from consideration. Though several members cited his passion and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and strengths pertaining to special education, some members, including Megan Harvey, said he lacked experience to be the city’s superintendent.

“I’m not convinced about his amount of experience and if that’s a great fit for where we are right here,” Harvey said.

Faginski-Stark supporters

During her analysis, Harvey made the case for Faginski-Stark, citing her “depth and breadth” of expertise and experience working at high-level administrative level positions.

Kwiecinski and committee member Ben Hersey also spoke favorably about Faginski-Stark, with Hersey noting that she provided concrete examples of actions she would take if chosen for the job of superintendent during the Q&A session.

“Clearly this is somebody who has lived this position. She’s walked the walk in a way that she could articulate,” Hersey said.

Hersey described Perrone’s interview as “blowing back his hair” with the amount of charisma the candidate possessed, but that he didn’t get the same sense of concrete details that Faginski-Stark represented.

“It was like a spectacular Disney World experience in my mind, because it was like, there’s so much energy and so much enthusiasm,” he said. “I kinda felt like … I need some statistics. I want some more information about how things actually work.”

The case for Perrone

LaChapelle and committee members Marin Goldstein, Shannon Dunham and Laurie Garcia all spoke favorably of Perrone.

Garcia, who noted she is a Spanish teacher in the school district where Perrone is currently superintendent, described how accessible he makes himself, and how he makes people feel heard and works hard to find the right answer.

“I think he is what the city needs,” Dunham said.

The committee’s discussion of the candidates went back and forth for nearly three hours. At one point, the conversation got heated after Kwiecinski told committee members that she wanted to go over specific answers to the questions asked so that the final decision wasn’t a “popularity contest.”

Goldstein and LaChapelle took offense to that, calling her words “judgmental” and “disparaging,” respectively.

“What you’re saying there sounds very judgmental, as if we didn’t work on 21 questions and asked 21 questions and hear 21 answers from two different people and as if we’re taken up with some charisma, and that’s how we’re making our decision,” Goldstein said. “Like please don’t disrespect people that have a different opinion.”

“We’re not voting for prom royalty,” LaChapelle said.

Kwiecinski clarified that she wanted to hear specific feedback on each candidate’s answers from each committee member.

LaChapelle began by citing some of the stronger qualities that she felt Faginski-Stark possessed such as municipal finance, noting that the district has already hired a business manager she found very capable. She noted that Perrone had a “special sauce” to help eliminate that deficit of trust she feels currently exists in the district.

“I would rather invest in somebody who has other skills that no one else has,” she said.

In the end, the committee voted 4-3 in favor of hiring Perrone, with LaChapelle, Goldstein, Dunham and Garcia voting in favor. Kwiecinski, Hersey and Harvey voted for Faginski-Stark.

Following the vote, the committee moved into executive session to call Perrone and waited until he called back at around 12:30 a.m. to officially accept the position.

Perrone will start on July 1, pending successful salary negotiation. The job description advertised a salary rbetween $142,000 and $157,000.

Perrone will replace Superintendent Allison LeClair, who is retiring in June.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>