One superintendent finalist withdraws his candidacy

The five members of the Manchester Superintendent Search Committee charged with screening and presenting qualified candidates to the full school committee were notified late Tuesday afternoon that one of the two final candidates who was to visit Manchester on Friday, September 23 has voluntarily withdrawn from this search for a variety of personal reasons.

The search consultants from HYA, a national search firm that has been working with the Manchester Board of School Committee, received word from Dr. Vincent Cotter on Tuesday that he was no longer interested in the Manchester position.

This leaves one candidate, Dr. Bolgen Vargas of Rochester, NY.  Dr. Vargas will spend all of Friday in Manchester meeting with school board members, school faculty, students and parents.  He will have lunch with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and will answer general questions at a public forum on Friday evening, which will begin at 6:00 PM at Memorial High School.

On Saturday, September 24 the entire school board will meet to interview Dr. Vargas and make a final decision.

Committee Member Debra Langton, chair of the five-member search committee, reported that while it is unfortunate to have a candidate withdraw his candidacy at this point in the process, it does nothing to decrease the validity of the remaining candidate.  Both Dr. Cotter and Dr. Vargas were deemed to be highly qualified candidates for superintendent.

The initial charge to the search committee was to identify highly qualified candidates who were eager to come to Manchester and oversee the daily operations of the city’s schools.  Throughout the entire search procedure, the search committee has been narrowing the field of candidates down to an individual who possesses the professional skills and desire to lead Manchester schools forward.

Citizens will have the opportunity to meet Dr. Vargas during his visit to Manchester and a reaction form will be used to gather public input prior to the school board’s meeting on Saturday morning. If the full school board does not reach agreement on this candidate, the search process for Manchester’s next superintendent will continue.