Alan Keays, VTDigger
RUTLAND—Longtime Rutland Schools Superintendent Mary Moran said her passion for education and the outdoors made Vermont a perfect location for a high school administrator from Massachusetts to live and build on a career. After more than two decades working for the Rutland City school system, most of that time as the district’s top leader, the Boston native says she’s retiring next June.
Moran, 69, is quick to point out, though, that she isn’t leaving the area, and will remain a Rutland resident. She said she plans to travel, spend more time with family, enjoy the outdoors, and continue to be involved in the community. And then she added, “One of my dreams is to hike the Rockies in the fall.”
Moran announced her plans to retire this week at a city School Board meeting.
“I think it’s a good time for me and it’s a good time for the organization,” she said. “I think we’re well-positioned here for the next chapter.”
She said she made her decision public now to allow the School Board plenty of time to begin the process to find a replacement.
Moran praised the professionalism of the School Board members she has worked with during her tenure and was thankful for voter support of budgets and bond proposals that have provided important upgrades to school facilities over the years.
Dick Courcelle, city School Board president, called Moran a “caring and compassionate” leader. “Mary has been an exceptional educational and administrative leader for Rutland City Public Schools,” he said Friday. “I have been very fortunate as board president these past few years to witness the work that she does that many people are not aware of. … She really exemplifies the best of what a good superintendent brings to a school district.”
Prior to moving to Rutland, Moran taught English and history in Massachusetts public schools, coached high school tennis and volleyball there, and served as both assistant principal and then principal of high schools in the Bay State.
But, she said, she began to set her sights north. “I hiked and skied a lot in New Hampshire and Vermont and at some point knew I wanted to move up to the country,” Moran said. Moran sought and received needed licenses in both states.
Then she saw an opening for the assistant superintendent position in Rutland. “It’s the only job I applied for, and I got it,” she said.
That was 1996, and she served as the district’s assistant superintendent into 2000 when then-superintendent David Wolk was named state education commissioner. Moran was then appointed city schools superintendent, a position she has held ever since.
She said one of the advantages of the position in Rutland is that it’s a single district overseen by just one school board. That allows her to spend less time at board meetings and more time going into the schools and interacting with staff, teachers, administrators and students.
