BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston Public School Committee voted for Mary Skipper to be the district’s next superintendent.
Skipper is the current superintendent in Somerville. Before she started at Somerville Public Schools in July 2015, Skipper worked in the Boston School District as its network superintendent of high schools and helped launch the Tech Boston Academy.
The School Committee said the deciding factor in narrowly choosing her was her experience working as a superintendent and working with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
During public comment, Skipper’s colleagues spoke to her work in special education, an area the state says the school system needs to work on.
Skipper will be replacing Brenda Cassellius, who served as the head of the city’s school system since 2019. Cassellius announced in February she would be stepping down from the role at the end of the school year.
That same year the state started investigating Boston Public Schools and released a report saying the district continues to fall short of an acceptable minimum standard in several areas.
The district and the state came to an agreement to improve the city’s schools earlier this week, meaning the district will not fall into receivership.
“In some ways, this agreement provides a roadmap for the next superintendent as he or she transitions into the district,” said Deputy Superintendent of Academics at Boston Public Schools Drew Echelson.
Skipper beat out 32 other candidates that were eventually narrowed down to her and Tommy Welch, the current Regional Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools. Skipper was voted into the position 4-3 over Welch.
Skipper and Mayor Michelle Wu are expected to hold a joint press conference Thursday morning.
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