By Curt Peterson
Windsor Central Unified Union School District board members unanimously approved their search committee’s choice, Sherry Sousa, to be the district’s superintendent. The next step in the process will be completing contract negotiations, and approval of the agreement by the board.
“It was a very exciting night,” Sousa told the Mountain Times in an email. “So glad it’s over!”
The search committee had narrowed down a large field of applicants to two – Sousa and Rebecca Holcombe, who served under Governors Peter Shumlin and Phil Scott as Education Secretary when the ACT 46 school consolidation project was launched.
“I should [say], though I kept removed from the process, I’m very pleased with the outcome and excited to continue working with Sherry,” WCUUSD Board Chair Bryce Sammel (Barnard) told the Mountain Times. “She was the right person for the job this past year, and is the right person for the district moving forward.”
Sousa has been interim superintendent since her predecessor, Mary Beth Banios, left the position on June 30, 2020.
Sousa has had to navigate the extreme challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, overseeing coordination of food distribution, transportation, technology requirements, specialized training for teachers, anti-virus screening, guidelines and spacing, curriculum and scheduling in-class and remote learning for approximately 1,000 students in the district, as well as faculty and staff.
“Now that the Board has offered me the position, I no longer have to worry ‘who will follow through on all the work the team has initiated’,” Sousa said. “I have confidence that the plans that are in place will be executed as intended. That is a significant relief.”
But the change from interim superintendent to superintendent isn’t quite as easy a simply erasing one word from the title on her office door, as new contract negotiations are still underway. Still Sousa said, “I feel that the Board provided me with the authority I needed to lead the district as the interim superintendent, and I am confident that they continue to trust my leadership as we plan for the future.”
The superintendent-elect has served the district for 27 years. She began as an integration facilitator for students with emotional disabilities, then transitioned to the director of learning opportunities and has spent the last six years as the director of instructional support services.
Sousa had strong support among board members and teachers.
In the end the board’s decision between the two finalist was made easy as Rebecca Holcombe dropped out of the contest at the last minute. Board member Jim Haff (Killington) said the search committee had convened by telephone when they heard of Holcombe’s decision.
“We had two extremely strong candidates,” Haff said. “Either would have been great, but when one drops out the decision does become much easier, and you don’t feel like you got the lesser choice.”
“There was great support for Sherry,” outgoing board member Pam Fraser said.
