Cambridge Superintendent Resigns

Three months after the Cambridge School Committee voted not to extend her contract, Superintendent of Schools Bobbie J. D’Alessandro resigned Friday, ending her five-year tenure at the helm of the city’s public schools.

D’Alessandro will leave at the end of the month to take charge of a $150 million research initiative on urban school leadership.

In her new position at the Newton, Mass.-based Educational Development Corporation, D’Alessandro will explore the working relationship between superintendents and school boards—the same issue that plagued her term in Cambridge.

“I’m very excited because this gives me a chance to work on a national level on raising public awareness in leadership in public education,” she said.

As superintendent, D’Alessandro bolstered technical and special education and reorganized Cambridge’s high school to even out discrepancies in student performance among its five component schools. But she faced increasing opposition from parents and school committee members who claimed she did not work fast enough and pushed her own agenda over the demands of the community.

D’Alessandro’s relationship with the committee and parents began to deteriorate rapidly last spring, when she proposed the first of a series of plans to merge or close Cambridge’s elementary schools in order to combat declining enrollment and a $4 million budget deficit, all of which were rejected by the school committee.

“She did a lot of great things for our system but we needed someone new,” said committee member Alice L. Turkel.

The school committee began looking for a permanent replacement for D’Alessandro shortly after they decided not to renew her contract, hiring a Chicago-based search firm and hiking the position’s salary from $125,000 to $170,000. But some committee members said they were not prepared to find an interim superintendent.

“We were a little surprised it was this quick,” Turkel said. “We would have more expected her to find something on the cycle of the school year.”

However, Alfred B. Fantini, the only committee member who opposed firing D’Alessandro, said her speedy job offer came as no surprise.

“It was just a question of time before somebody saw the values she has to offer,” he said. “It kind of puts into question the school committee’s actions.”

Committee members said they will likely choose a member of D’Alessandro’s existing “leadership team” to step into the district’s highest position for now.

Despite her often-strained relationship with Cambridge, D’Alessandro said she has faith in the city’s public school system.

“I really feel the Cambridge Public Schools are much stronger than people realize,” she said. “I’m very proud of Cambridge and they’ll attract a great superintendent.”

—Staff writer Claire A. Pasternack can be reached at cpastern@fas.harvard.edu.