NEW BEDFORD — The interim superintendent of New Bedford Public Schools and his deputy will be promoted into permanent positions. Andrew O’Leary and Darcie Aungst will become the long-term leaders for New Bedford’s nearly 13,000 students and 1,100 teachers after the School Committee unanimously voted for their promotion on Monday night.
“They’re fully committed to the betterment of the students in the district and improving outcomes,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell, who also serves as the chairman of the School Committee. In a conversation with The Light on Tuesday, Mitchell praised O’Leary’s and Aungst’s long careers in New Bedford — O’Leary is the former district financial manager and Aungst was the principal of Congdon Elementary.
“That is really important, and I think it’s been a long time that we’ve had a superintendent about whom we can say that,” said Mitchell.
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The contract for the district’s new leader will be negotiated and finalized — likely by February’s School Committee meeting — but Mayor Mitchell said the agreement for O’Leary will be similar to that of Thomas Anderson, the previous superintendent. Anderson’s six-year contract paid him $215,000, which made him the second highest- paid city employee at the time.
For O’Leary, the promotion comes at the halfway mark of his yearlong appointment as the district’s interim chief. It also ends the transition period since former superintendent Anderson made the surprise announcement in March 2023 that he was leaving his post for the superintendency of East Hartford, Conn. — Anderson’s hometown.
School Committee members said they made the move to hire O’Leary and Aungst in lieu of conducting a national search.
“This would be the time a district would put out any type of a search for a nationwide search or search committee,” said Chris Cotter, a School Committee member. “Based on what he’s shown at this point, we don’t want to lose him.”
Another School Committee member, Bruce Oliveira, said he also felt the district had the right person: “Having gone through it a couple times, the interview process is not an exact science. It’s a distraction when you’ve got somebody who’s doing the work. My gut felt we had the right person.”
The mayor added that he was initially in favor of a nationwide search. But after seeing “noticeable improvements” over O’Leary’s term so far, he became convinced that “there’s no need for a search.”
The mayor pointed to improvements in attendance rates across the district. School Committee member Colleen Dawicki said that she observed strong leadership from O’Leary in negotiations and community issues.
School Committee member Oliveira said: “I think we’re fortunate. The district is fortunate to have a pair of individuals legitimately invested in where we’re going. They’re not trying to fill a resume and move on.”
The teachers’ union in New Bedford — the New Bedford Educators’ Association — did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Where does the district go from here?
In his conversation with The Light, Mayor Mitchell outlined many areas where he will be looking for improvements as O’Leary’s tenure begins — some of which he had previously stated in his Jan. 1 inaugural address.
Chief among these was chronic absenteeism. Mitchell said, “By and large the work there is to address kids who are checking out of school for a long time.” Since pandemic disruptions, chronic absenteeism in New Bedford had increased dramatically.
“The pandemic did make things harder, but the pandemic shouldn’t be an excuse anymore,” Mitchell said. He noted that improvements to attendance were already happening, but that more work was needed at the high school, specifically.
Mitchell also discussed other issues: “We’ve got to see movement across the board in ELA and math scores. Especially at the high school and also middle schools,” he said. “We want to get more kids into more intensive coursework and the scores in those high intensity classes to get better.”
Mitchell noted that “AP scores are improving, and more kids are becoming competitive for college admission.”
O’Leary himself talked about these testing metrics at the December meeting of the School Committee, when he presented an “Entry Plan” — or goals for his leadership of the district.
“It’s very important in the choice era that we raise the profile of the district,” O’Leary said in his presentation, referring to the growing movement of parents who opt out of traditional public education. “We talk about this a lot — how is the high school perceived among middle school parents?”
His message in December was that New Bedford “is the place where your child can receive the best education.”
However, test scores in New Bedford are among the worst in the state. At the high school, only 25% of students are meeting or exceeding expectations in English.
In mathematics, only 16% of high schoolers meet or exceed expectations.
As for the mayor’s stated goal of improving AP scores — the College Board program in which students can earn college credit for advanced work completed in high school — test scores are not publicly reported. But the most recent data shows there were only 283 AP test-takers in New Bedford last year, or barely 2% of the high school population.
Some community advocates say that testing is the wrong goal to set. Cindy Roy, the president of the New Bedford Committee to Save Our Schools, was present at Monday’s meeting of the School Committee to make a public comment about abandoning state testing.
However, Roy said that she still supports O’Leary as the new superintendent.
“It’s only been six months — but in those months I have had good experiences” with O’Leary and Aungst, Roy said. “Andrew O’Leary has been incredibly responsive to [our] coalition. He seems like he wants to understand issues and a willingness to learn.”
School Committee members excited about future
Overall, the School Committee members said they were excited about the direction of the district.
“The district has an energy to it that I haven’t felt in a while,” said Oliveira.
Dawicki said she thinks a lot of the school and administrative staff is excited about the new district leaders. “Their leadership style is so welcomed and refreshing — humility, transparency, warmth and joy that you don’t often see at this level.”
And Cotter said, “The internal knowledge and experience that they’re bringing because they’re local makes a big difference.”
Mayor Mitchell summarized the transition: “They’re ready to go.”
O’Leary himself offered the following statement over email on Tuesday: “I am very grateful to the School Committee for this opportunity. New Bedford is a special place. Our district is home to incredible educators and wonderful students. We are determined to work as hard as we possibly can to ensure our students and families have the district they deserve.”
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
