At the stroke of midnight, no one in Montgomery County will turn into a pumpkin (to the best of this humble reporter’s knowledge, anyway).
But big change will be afoot for the county’s acclaimed school system, whose long-time Superintendent Jerry Weast will be superintendent no more. Effective Friday, Joshua Starr will take the carriage’s reigns.
Starr, 41, headed a small, diverse public school district in Stamford, Conn., for the past six years. A national search led the Montgomery County school board to select Starr in April, and officially appoint him on May 11.
In an interview with The Washington Examiner, Starr said he wants to focus on children’s individual needs, and believes it is “critically important that the school community owns the success of each and every child, including those in programs for English language learners, for gifted students, for any student outside of the typical spectrum.”
According to his contract, Starr will have a base salary of $250,000, a county car, and a “BlackBerry and/or iPhone.” He will also meet more frequently with the school board than Weast, who is retiring after 12 years.
Parents and community members in Stamford described Starr as accessible.
“Parents — whether they like him or not — when they send an email to him, he will answer back,” said Wendy Lecker, co-president of Stamford’s Parent-Teacher Council. “Sometimes his manner is a little brusque — nobody’s going to be universally liked. But he’s very smart and he’s really had our district’s best interests at heart.”
