Boston Names Three Finalists For Superintendent

superintendent finalists.jpg — (L-R) Marie Izquierdo, Oscar Santos and Brenda Cassellius, final candidates for superintendent of the Boston Public Schools.

Molly Boigon is a former associate producer and reporter for Learning Curve, WGBH’s K-12 education desk. She has also worked for Boston Public Radio and WGBH’s higher education desk, On Campus. Her interests include jazz, yoga and public records requests. Before joining WGBH, she worked at SiriusXM, WZBC and WAAF. She has a degree in Applied Psychology and Human Development from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education.

April 17, 2019

Updated July 31, 2023

Boston Public Schools has named three finalists for the job of district superintendent for the 2019-2020 school year. The candidates will go through public interviews next week with parents, students, teachers, school leaders and community partners.

The finalists are Marie Izquierdo, chief academic officer at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Brenda Cassellius, the former commissioner of the education for the state of Minnesota and Oscar Santos, head of school at Cathedral High School in the South End.

All three candidates are people of color.

The search committee has been looking for candidates since October, and received application materials from 39 people.

The district has been operating without a permanent superintendent since last June, when Tommy Chang, the former head of the district, resigned, following a conversation with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

Our coverage of K-12 education is made possible with support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.