By Max Bowen-max.bowen@northstarreporter.com
On Monday, School Superintendent Scott Holcomb hit a milestone as he attended one of his last meetings of the School Committee.
Holcomb is set to step down in late August, bringing to a close a five-year career as the superintendent. Duxbury Superintendent John Antonucci has been offered the job, and his contract will begin on July 1. A brief meeting was held on June 17 to finalize the contract.
June 14 also marked the first in-person meeting of the committee that the public was able to attend. Most of those in attendance—including almost all of the committee and the administration—wore face masks for the two-hour meeting.
State Rep. Adam Scanlon said that Holcomb had been principal when he was an NAHS student. He said that Holcomb encouraged him to follow his passions and keep an open mind about the opinions of others.
“You worked very tirelessly to bring people together,” said Scanlon before presenting Holcomb with a citation recognizing his service to the community. “We all owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Committee member James McKenna said that on Friday he and Holbomb would pray for a quiet weekend and Mondays were often spent dealing with what happened. If McKenna called, Holcomb would keep the conversations brief so he could focus on the schools.
“After 25 years, it’s a job well done, not just for every individual student,” he said. “I’m not sure what I can say that would be more heartfelt than ‘thank you.’”
Committee Chair Ethan Hamilton recalled that when the town posted the superintendent job opening, those that applied weren’t the right choice. At the time the district was in danger of losing its accreditation. He said that Holcomb’s forward thinking contributed to the passage of the override that helped fund the schools.
“You really changed the culture here,” he said. “You’ve really moved the district. People really want to be a part of the district.”
Holcomb said that the role brings with it a lot of criticism—often seen in the many e-mails that await him each day. He credited the district faculty, saying that a leader is only as good as those around them and that none of things he accomplished would have happened without them.
“It puts a burden on your shoulders that’s indescribable if you care about children,” said Holcomb. “There’s not a day that went by that you don’t think about the children.”
