Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has tapped Laura Perille as interim superintendent for the Boston Public Schools. The school committee is to vote on the appointment on Monday. Perille takes over for Tommy Chang who, after three years on the job, announced his resignation a week ago. Perille has two children who graduated from the Boston Public Schools. For 16 years, she's been president and CEO of a nonprofit called “Edvestors”. Perille spoke with WGBH All Things Considered anchor Barbara Howard about her goals while she’s interim superintendent. This transcription has been edited for clarity.

Barbara Howard: You've said as an interim you've been given a lot of autonomy, what's the first thing you plan to do?

Laura Perille: First, quite frankly, is to ensure a smooth opening of the new school year. I know it sounds funny when kids are just getting out of school, but we can't lose a beat and make sure that we are ready for a smooth school opening in September.

Howard: While the school openings have been problematic, especially buses not picking up students or Madison Park a couple of years ago didn't have any schedules for their kids two weeks into school. What's going on that's making it so difficult to run the schools?

Perille: I don't have that answer for you right now, Barbara. You’ve caught me on my not even first day of the job. So I think that's exactly what needs to be looked at and that's what I'm hoping to dig into. And I am looking forward to working with the team here and being transparent and engaged with the families and students and community that we serve, to dig into that.

Howard: Well of course, the Boston Public Schools are massive and that makes you a rather unconventional pick. You've never really been in charge of such a big organization as the schools. As I understand it, you're currently managing about a dozen people, about a $4 million budget. Boston Public Schools — that's like 10,000 staff, not to mention the students, and a budget of over a billion — with a ‘B’ — dollars. So how are you going to be able to make this transition?

Perille: Well it's a big switch and a big step up. But there are some very talented people who are already working in this district, already know how to keep the trains moving, and I'm not coming in to do this job alone. I'm coming in to support, empower, and accelerate the work of a team.

Howard: Quite a few of the people you will be supervising do have higher degrees. I know you do have an undergraduate degree from Brown University, but you don't have a higher degree, and you don't have classroom experience or even a certificate for teaching. Now the city has to ask for some sort of exemption to allow you even to take this job. And that is of course raising some questions.

Perille: It's not uncommon for interims to need exemptions or waivers to step into the job. But I think I want to shift the question just a little bit. Some of the challenges that are currently I think blocking the district from making the kind of progress that we all wanted to make are different than the kind of skill sets you just outlined in those credentials and in those technical skills.

For the past year or so, maybe 18 months, BPS has been looking at changing start times, aligning the configuration at multiple grade levels, looking at facilities, looking at the possibility of realigning schools around where seats are needed and where they are not. Those are all very complicated questions.

Howard: Sounds like those are the questions, especially with the start times, were questions that Tommy Chang tried to take on … he ended up having to reverse himself. What makes you confident that you'll be able to do better?

Perille: I'm a longtime observer of community processes. I spent two years on the panel that redesigned Boston's student assignment process. I chaired the data subcommittee. Even as an insider or an outsider and you know longtime city resident and longtime parent, as well as advocate, I have a good sense.

Howard: You were on the search committee that appointed Tommy Chang. What went wrong?

Perille: I'm not necessarily convinced that anything went wrong in the search committee process. Sometimes the match fits and sometimes there are challenges. And you know Boston is a complicated town — really knowing the landscape is something that lots of us who move in from out of town struggle to learn the terrain. That's particularly true when we're talking about our schools, our neighborhoods, and the education of our children.

Howard: Given what happened with Tommy Chang being here just three years, how can Boston attract candidates for this position with that record?

Perille: I think Boston will remain a very attractive district for lots of leaders to want to move into and work in. Boston has a unique blend of resources.

Yes, we may be complicated terrain, but a unique blend of resources with not just the schools, but a very engaged community of parents and advocates, strong nonprofit partners, a vibrant business community that cares about the schools and higher education partners that surround us from every corner.

Howard: Now would you continue on as a permanent superintendent if you're offered the position?

Perille: I think my only focus right now is digging in as interim to get this process started and that as you can imagine is a big enough task to keep me fully occupied.

Howard: Thank you so much for talking with us.

Perille: Thank you Barbara.

Howard: That's Laura Perille, Mayor Walsh's pick as interim superintendent for the Boston Public Schools replacing current Superintendent Tommy Chang who is stepping down after three years. The school committee is to vote on Perille’s appointment on Monday. This is All Things Considered.