2 Marblehead Interim Superintendent Advanced Finalists

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead School Committee narrowed its search for a new interim superintendent to two finalists Friday as members voted to extend invitations to Hingham Interim Director of Student Services Barbara Cataldo and Swansea Public Schools Superintendent John Robidoux, for daily visits to the district. .

All four candidates — including Thaddeus King and David Thomson — received endorsements for finalist interviews with Robidous and Cataldo receiving “top two” endorsements from at least four out of five School Committee members.

Cataldo is a former superintendent of Cohasset Public Schools and was named Hingham’s interim executive director of student services for the 2023-24 academic year.

She has worked in public education administration for more than 15 years in student services, special education and district leadership. She also worked as a reading and special education teacher.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College, a Master of Education from Harvard University, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northeastern University.

Robidoux has served as superintendent of Swansea Public Schools since 2016 and has worked in that district since 2006. He told that city’s School Committee in the fall that he will not seek a new contract when his contract expires at the end of this current school. year.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees from Providence College and is a doctoral candidate at Lesley University.

School Committee Chair Sarah Fox said she has been in touch with the four candidates who interviewed publicly with the School Committee last week about the ongoing day-long visit to the district, which will include contingent trips to Hingham and Swansea, respectively, in the case of two finalists.

A fifth candidate was asked to conduct a public interview, but Fox said that person had never been in contact with the Committee on Scheduling, so it was decided to move forward based on the four candidates who interviewed.

Fox said the next step after the day-long district interviews would be to check references and then bring the name back to the full Committee for a discussion and potential vote on a finalist. That person will then be brought to Marblehead for in-person sessions with administration, staff and students prior to possible selection for an offer.

This will be the second year in a row that the district has been under an interim superintendent, after Theresa McGuinness was hired in October following the mutual separation between the district and former superintendent John Buckey last July.

McGuinness said in December that she did not want to be considered for the permanent superintendent position, and the Board decided in February to move forward with another interim district leader before searching for a permanent replacement for Buckey next year.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza._