Hatfield names three finalists for schools chief

HATFIELD – The director of special education for the Frontier Regional and Union 38 school districts, along with a Pittsfield principal and a Vermont superintendent, are finalists to become the next superintendent for the Hatfield public schools.

The Hatfield School Committee announced Tuesday that it has narrowed a field of 31 applicants to three finalists to replace John Robert, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

The finalists, culled from a field of eight semifinalists, are:

■Karen Ferradino, director of special education at Frontier for the past 11 years.

■Martin McEvoy, principal of the Herberg Middle School in Pittsfield.

■William Bazyk, superintendent of schools for the Battenkill Valley Supervisory Union in Arlington, Vermont.

Heather Cahill, chairwoman of the School Committee, said the COVID-19 pandemic is making logistics for the rest of the hiring process tricky, but that an early April hiring date remains the goal for the job that begins July 1.

The committee may conduct remote recorded interviews with the finalists. The interviews would then be available for the public to review online and offer comments to the committee.

Semifinalists were interviewed by a preliminary search committee made up of parents, educators, students and community members.

Ferrandino previously was educational director of the Eagleton School in Great Barrington, educational coordinator for the Hampshire Educational Collaborative and an adjustment counselor at Mahar Regional High School in Orange.

Bazyk served as the director of student services for the Battenkill Valley Supervisory Union before being named its superintendent, and was previously director of pupil services for the Greenfield public schools.

McEvoy has served as principal of Lanesborough Elementary School and vice principal for curriculum and instruction at the Hoosac Valley Middle and High School in Cheshire.