By Gareth Henderson, Standard Staff
Mary Beth Banios accepted a three-year contract as the new superintendent of the Windsor Central Supervisory Union on Wednesday, according to WCSU Board Chair and Search Committee Co-Chair Paige Hiller.
The contract includes an annual salary of $135,000, Hiller confirmed in a Wednesday phone interview.
Banios, the assistant superintendent at Shrewsbury Public Schools in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, was one of two finalists for the superintendent position.
On Wednesday, Hiller praised the depth of experience Banios brings to the position, along with her “really approachable style” that was evident at a recent forum with parents and community members.
She said Banios is someone who can help the SU achieve its goal of “becoming one of the top 3 or 5 school districts in the state.”
“I think our biggest concern was having a [candidate with] lot of depth, to take what has been built so far and upping it a notch,” Hiller said.
The impact of Act 46, a controversial Vermont education reform law, will figure heavily into the new superintendent’s work. At town meeting in March, SU towns will vote on a local Act 46 plan that would create new unified district with a new governing board. Some in the SU have opposed the change, while others have urged support.
At the forum earlier this month, Banios noted there’s a “cultural aspect to change management.”
“If the merger was to go forward and be successful, I think attention needs to be paid to those kinds of things,” she said, speaking of the Act 46 proposal.
This article appears in the February 23, 2017 edition of the Vermont Standard.