PROVINCETOWN — The school committee voted unanimously on March 14 to enter contract negotiations with superintendent candidate Paul Teixeira over two other finalists.

Teixeira is director of English learner education and Title III for the Medford Public Schools and owns a condominium on Bradford Street, which he and his partner, Lee Kugler, have been running as a vacation rental called the Burch House. He told the committee he looked forward to moving to town for the job.

Teixeira said he considered moving to Provincetown when his son, who is now in college, was in elementary school. But he was discouraged by the closing of the high school in 2013.

Pending agreement on a contract, Teixeira will take over leadership of the schools from outgoing Supt. Gerry Goyette on July 1. School committee member Adrianna Stefani said she hopes there will be a contract by the end of April.

During Friday’s deliberations, committee members listed the reasons Teixeira stood out from the other finalists, including his experience leading interdisciplinary learning projects, his management of a budget and staff comparable in size to the Provincetown district’s, and his “almost perfect” scores on feedback sheets collected from students, teachers, staff, and community members who had met with him.

One question seems to have made moving forward difficult. Committee member Terese Nelson voiced it: “Are we able to get another Gerry?” She had her own answer. “There’s just one Gerry, and Gerry’s asked to retire.”

Last month, Goyette offered to stay another year as an interim. But Nelson was reluctant to scrap the work that had gone into the search. And, she said, “We’re going to have to say goodbye to Gerry eventually.”

Chair Matthew Gunn said, “I needed a candidate who was going to be able to step into those shoes, if not right away, then eventually.”

Teixeira, a Worcester native, has spent most of his career in the Malden and Medford schools. After working as a photographer and writer for the United Nations Children’s Fund, Teixeira told the school committee last Thursday, he started working as a substitute teacher, and “a lightbulb went off.”

He got certified to teach, gained proficiency in Spanish, and spent 10 years teaching English language learners in Malden before becoming a curriculum specialist and instructional coach. He took on his current role in Medford in 2014, according to his résumé.

Teixeira’s department serves over 600 students, and he manages translation services for families. He serves in the Medford superintendent’s cabinet.

 

Making the Selection

The superintendent search began in the fall, soon after Goyette announced his plans to retire. The search committee narrowed a pool of 11 applicants (vetted by the Mass. Association of School Committees) down to five finalists. They chose three to interview last week, with each finalist also attending forums with students, staff, and community members.

The other two finalists were Braintree Public Schools Director of English and Reading Mary Ellen Janeiro and Principal Amy Kelly of Stratton Elementary School in Arlington, who is a part-time Provincetown resident. The school committee asked each candidate the same set of questions, which touched on maintaining the school’s partnerships in the community, building the school’s profile outside of Provincetown, and compatibility with the International Baccalaureate philosophy.

All showed strengths during the interviews: Janeiro conversed with a parent in Spanish during the community forum and described having been an assistant superintendent and middle school principal. Kelly has a background in equity work and social and emotional learning. Teixeira offered details of his work integrating English-learning students into classrooms and painted an appealing picture of an interdisciplinary project he had led with students following a class visit to Boston’s Freedom Trail.

Teixeira said he had overseen plans to protect immigrant families in the district from threats posed by recent executive orders and addressed the possibility that federal funds for programs like school breakfasts and lunches could dry up.

“Kids shouldn’t be penalized for what’s happening in Washington,” he said during Thursday’s community forum after a parent noted the importance of the meals. “I know how to chase grants, I know how to get money, I know how to knock on a door and ask for a donation,” Teixeira said. “Laws haven’t changed, the Constitution is still in effect, and students still have rights.”

Liz Lovati, who served on the search committee and said she favored Teixeira, asked him at the forum to explain a conflict with the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum, which she said she had heard about through word of mouth. Teixeira’s condo association, which abuts the monument property, had filed a lawsuit to halt development of the funicular over concerns that the hillside could not support the structure.

Teixeira said that there were aesthetic concerns, as well, but that the association had sought to annul the planning board’s approval of the construction so the proposal could go before the Cape Cod Conservation District. The lawsuit was resolved in mediation, Teixeira said, and the eventual supports for the inclined elevator were more than twice as long as what the planning board had originally approved.

Stefani said that Courtney Hurst, the PMPM’s board president at the time, had told her that Teixeira had been “calm and professional” throughout the conflict.

One by one, each school committee member expressed a preference for Teixeira. Member Ngina Lythcott stamped her feet in affirmation once the decision was reached.

Teixeira said on Tuesday that he has already started developing his entry plan but will refrain from reaching out to stakeholders until he has signed a contract.

Goyette said he watched the deliberation and planned to come in for a few days after July 1 to share contacts with the new superintendent and “show him where everything is.”

Otherwise, Goyette said, he looks forward to doing what he wants to do in Provincetown, like playing pickleball and volunteering at the soup kitchen.

“It’s not like I’m leaving,” he said. About Teixeira, he added, “Whatever I can do to support him, I’m right there.”