Everett School committee appoints Indian-American superintendent

indica News Bureau-

 

The Everett School Committee has selected Priya Tahiliani, an Indian-American, to serve as the next Superintendent of Schools. For the first time in 30 years, the school committee in Everett, Massachusetts, has chosen a new superintendent, that too from an Indian descent. In a unanimous vote that Chairman Thomas Abruzzese called “historic,” Tahiliani was chosen to lead the district beginning no later than July 1, 2020.

The daughter of Indian immigrants– Savitri and Jamnu Tahiliani, Tahiliani has overseen the Boston Public Schools’ office of English learners since 2017. She also taught for 15 years in Boston schools.

Currently working on her doctorate, Tahiliani has academic credentials from Harvard and Boston University. Tahiliani, who is bilingual, has demonstrated great depth of knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning and student concerns and is well known in her field and among her colleagues. She has been noted for her excellent communications skills and her understanding of students at risk, including new immigrants and those just learning English.

In focus groups earlier this year, Everett residents called for a superintendent like Tahiliani, according to committee member Frank Parker: “[They] wanted someone who is bilingual … someone who has roots in being a teacher.”

They also wanted someone who could bring a new culture of trust and collaboration to a district — and city — that was dominated by Frederick F. Foresteire for decades. “It was an autocratic school district,” Parker said, likening the next superintendent’s task to “regime change.”