PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee has tapped Taconic High's principal as the interim deputy superintendent.

Matthew Bishop was voted into the temporary position on Monday during a special meeting of the School Committee. But this may not be the end of his nearly 12-year tenure as a principal.

"I initially didn't apply when [the job posting] came out because I have some things left to do at Taconic, I feel like, and I feel like I want to see that transition through," Bishop said.

He was excited when the opportunity presented itself and could see himself staying in an administrative role if it goes well, explaining "I am going to kind of wait and see how it goes."  

If not, Bishop intends to return and finish what he started at the high school. Taconic will be all vocational by 2027 and he would like to see the transition through and "not leave that half done."

The fiscal 2025 budget eliminated the deputy superintendent and curriculum director positions, adding an assistant superintendent of school transformation and accountability and an assistant super of curriculum, instruction, and educational engagement.

Former special education director Jennifer Stokes was hired to lead transformation and accountability efforts last week but hiring for the other position is being held off.

"I only felt comfortable with bringing forward the assistant superintendent of school transformation because we could grant fund half of the position, saving the taxpayer at least $70,000, so we did move forward with that where would have filled that position, that committee was," Curtis explained.

"I did put forth an interim deputy superintendent so we can proceed in quick fashion in running a full search for a special education director. I have discussed naming an interim special education director but we've heard from a number of people in that community that there's interest in the role so I think the best thing to do is run a transparent process for the special education director."

He said the special education director position would be posted the next day and the interim deputy superintendent appointment would provide time to run a thorough search process "and then assess, while that's all going on, if we should repost the assistant superintendent of curriculum. instruction, and educational engagement for a possible fall start."

"I'd really like to see how successful we are with filling the special education director position. As you know that is a position with a great amount of responsibility and as we're going through that process, then assess reposting the assistant superintendent," Curtis said.

"So the intention to be clear to the public is to have those two positions as proposed during the budget process and whether it's viable to repost in the fall, which is typically not ideal, we will assess. We have had some internal and external possible candidates that have expressed interest in the assistant superintendent position so I'd like to continue that dialogue."

In the short term, Bishop and Stokes will take on the responsibilities of the vacant position, partially the fall assessment system based on June data. They will also help facilitate a curriculum adoption process that is teacher-led.

Bishop was the principal of Pittsfield High School for five years and this year would have been seventh at Taconic. Vice Principal Angela Johansen has been asked to step up to fill his role and she has agreed pending contract negotiations.

"We have every confidence that she'll be able to lead, be a strong leader during his absence," Curtis said.

Bishop was asked if he had any plans or ideas for the health and safety of students. He explained that social-emotional learning is discussed whenever the faculty gets together.

"One of the things I'm looking forward to in this position is learning about the elementary and the second, step curriculum in more depth so I can get to be more familiar with that. I do know we have put a lot of time and effort into the secondary world around SEL but there's much more that needs to happen," he said.

"I'm really excited about some of the things we've started this year, mostly our partnership with the Berkshire Housing Authority around mediation and working with SEL skills, our partnership with 18 Degrees because we are realizing that we can help in the community."

He explained that the school can only do so much and "we are trying really hard" but they have found that these partnerships will help students.

"We know the level of need is as great as ever," Bishop added. "I have two teenagers myself and watching them grow up trying to navigate and find out where they are in the world is really difficult."

When asked how to foster consensus in the district community while making decisions in the best interest of students, he used Taconic's switch to all vocational as an example because "that was a big deal."

Bishop detailed the outreach to the community and Taconic faculty that resulted in a relatively smooth process so far.  As a result, students are coming in from surrounding communities and non-CTE teachers are working with CTE teachers during the transition due to the consensus-building efforts, he said.

The School Committee's vote was unanimous.

"Thank you for stepping up," member Sara Hathaway said.

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