Melrose School Superintendent Finalists Named

Editor's note: This article was corrected at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday with Taymor's correct educational background.

The Superintendent Search Committee has recommended five finalists for the Melrose Public Schools superintendent job.

The finalists were announced at Tuesday night's School Committee meeting. They are, in alphabetical order:

• , assistant superintendent of Pentucket Regional Schools. He holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree from Boston College, and a doctorate from Southeastern University in Florida.

• , superintendent of Framingham Public Schools. He holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree from Westfield State and a doctorate from University of Sarasota.

• Dr. James Kelleher, interim superintendent of Scituate Public Schools and assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Instructionand Assessment. He holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard, a master's from NYU and a doctorate from Boston College.

• , assistant superintendent of Chelmsford Public Schools. She holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University, a master's degree from Gordon College and a doctorate from Boston College.

• Ms. Cyndy Taymore, assistant superintendent of Bedford Public Schools, retaining oversight of special education. She holds a bachelor's degree from American University, a master's degree from Emerson, graduate work at Salem State, and certificate for post graduate work at UMass Boston.

The next steps are site visits starting next week by committee members to the candidates' districts, which will be reviewed at the Melrose School Committee meeting on March 20, and background and reference checks.

Then from March 19-29, the candidates will conduct site visits in Melrose followed by public interviews before the School Committee the same day, with the goal of making a final decision at a School Committee meeting on March 28 or 29 and coming to a contract agreement by April 3.

The Superintendent Search Committee previously held a to gather public input on the skills and qualifications they'd like to see in the next superintendent, and have since been meeting and interviewing applicants. The School Committee also .