By STEVE FREKER
MALDEN — In a swift deliberation with a dearth of discussion, the Malden School Committee on Monday night voted 6-3 to offer the position of Superintendent of Schools to Somerville High School headmaster John Oteri, who also was in contention for the same job in Peabody.
Two candidates from a field of five finalists received all nine votes from the nine-member committee, with Oteri receiving six votes and former 13-year Malden High School principal Dana Brown getting three votes, including one from the chairman of the school board, Mayor Gary Christenson.
Immediately following the vote to offer the position to Oteri, the School Committee went into executive session to discuss a contract offer. After a lengthy period lasting just over two hours, the executive session adjourned without reaching an agreement on an offer. Christenson said negotiations in closed session would continue at another time and if an agreement was reached between the School Committee and Oteri, a contract would be voted on in a public meeting.
Oteri was also one of two finalists for the position of Peabody superintendent with Debra Ruggiero, principal of E.J. Harrington Elementary School in Lynn. In Peabody, second interviews with each of the two finalists, Oteri and Ruggiero, were planned for Thursday night.
Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt, the chairman of the Peabody School Committee, said last week a decision and offer could be made following Thursday’s interviews, or perhaps at the next scheduled School Committee meeting next Tuesday, April 11.
Peabody School Committeewoman Beverley Griffin Dunne said it’s impossible to say what will happen next in the process until the board has a chance to meet and take a vote in response. If Oteri enters into a contract with Malden, the board could decide to open up the search to new candidates, or to confirm Ruggiero as the final choice.
“The biggest challenge about this process is scheduling the interviews and the meetings,” said Dunne, who added there is a critical shortage of qualified superintendent candidates, making for a highly competitive search.
Oteri was not present at last night’s meeting and could not be reached for comment on the status of the Malden offer versus the situation and status in Peabody.
School Committee member Leonard Iovino made the first motion to back Oteri’s candidacy. “John Oteri had stood above the other finalists in his interview session,” Iovino said. Fellow member Jerry Leone seconded the motion.
Mayor Christenson spoke in favor of Brown, as did Committee members Catherine Bordonaro and Tara Beardsley. “He (Brown) he had done so much for the city of Malden. He knows this city,” the mayor said.
Christenson, Beardsley and Bordonaro all voted Brown. Iovino, Leone, Silverman, Emmanuel Marsh, Michael Drummey and John Froio all voted for Oteri.
Leah Dearborn of the Item staff contributed to this report.