It would appear that choices about district-related issues are often made by elected public school officials.
However, the vote by the city’s school committee members on July 21 is important for people who are looking back at Holyoke’s schools after ten years of state authority.
Since the state took over the district in 2015 due to persistent student underperformance, as evidenced by results on the state’s standardized test, the MCAS, they have essentially only been permitted to serve as advisors to the receiver/superintendent.
Finding a permanent superintendent was one of the topics on the July meeting’s agenda.
“This process included an advisory committee to help make a recommendation to the school board what it should do with a superintendent search,” stated Joshua Garcia, the chair of the committee and a City of Holyoke resident. “Should we conduct a thorough search? Shouldn’t we think about persuading [Interim Superintendent] Antony Soto to remain, permanently?”
Members of the school committee voted in favor of the advisory group’s recommendation to hold a nationwide search for the next superintendent. Hiring an outside search consultant is the committee’s next move.
By July 2026, a permanent superintendent should be in place.
In June, the Healey-Driscoll Administration declared that on July 1, Holyoke Public Schools would be released from state receivership and placed back under local authority.
The judgment came after a preliminary ruling in October of last year that the district would be prepared if the Holyoke School Committee finished a plan for capacity building that was created in collaboration with state education officials.
