The Wilmington School Committee chose Matthew Poska as superintendent on the night of November 25, 2025, by a vote of five to one with one abstention. The WCTV recording of the meeting, an hour and 46 minutes long, shows a committee that went into the room without a majority for anyone, counted preferences twice, and settled on the candidate who had been the first choice of three members and the second choice of two more. This article reconstructs that meeting from the recording. Part 1 of this series covered Poska’s career; Part 3 covers his interview.
The process
The search began in May 2025, after the committee and Superintendent Glenn Brand parted ways mid-year and the committee hired David Thomson as interim. Chair Jesse Fennelly and Human Resources Director Andrea Stern Armstrong co-led it with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. A community survey set the criteria: an advocate for students and staff, communication, management, honesty and integrity, and a commitment to student well-being. A screening committee, meeting in executive session, took 17 applications, interviewed seven semifinalists on October 21, 23 and 29, and unanimously forwarded three finalists on November 13: Patricia Haynes, assistant superintendent in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with a Ph.D. from Capella University; Brandi Kwong, the sitting superintendent in Methuen, with a doctorate from UMass Lowell; and Poska, assistant superintendent in Nashua, with a master’s from Salem State.
Each finalist spent a 12-hour day in Wilmington, touring buildings with committee members, meeting staff and the public, and sitting for a recorded interview in the high school’s Large Instruction Room on November 17 and 19. The committee read written recommendations, called references, reviewed survey feedback from the meet-and-greets and the school visits, and in some cases watched the candidates’ own school board meetings. A public survey closed November 23.
First round: a three-way split
Fennelly asked each member for highlights and a top choice or top two.
Michael Mercaldi went first and recommended Haynes, citing her “demonstrated high level thinking, proven ability to execute, calm demeanor, and focus on education,” her account of raising math scores by changing how algebra was taught, and her plan for the new elementary school. Of Poska he said he “gave very direct and concise answers,” was “very clearly student first,” “would be very visible in the district” and “appeared to be very comfortable on the operations side of the business.” He later named Poska his second choice.
Rebecca Lord, a special education consultant, put Haynes and Kwong in her top two and chose Kwong, “the only person who has been in this role already and also been in Massachusetts and is local.” She said she had reached out to a contact in Methuen to understand why Kwong was leaving and concluded Kwong had handled significant challenges “as well as anyone possibly could.” Of Poska she said he had “that coach-like vibe of supporting his administrators and teachers” and a theme of “let’s celebrate our successes and just think about how we can improve a little bit.”
Nicholas Golden also named Haynes and Kwong, and said he was torn between them. He praised Poska’s answer on staff mental health, in which Poska described Nashua’s efforts to help teachers with housing and other material support.
David Ragsdale named Poska and Haynes. He said Poska “gave just again and again very thoughtful and direct answers,” with “thoughtful replies that really sometimes went into just areas that I wasn’t necessarily expecting,” and had “strong experience in Massachusetts as a principal.”
Stephen Turner named Kwong first, Haynes second. He had watched Methuen School Committee meetings, called the Methuen teachers’ union president, and reported that the union leader said Kwong had started “more rigid in her thinking” and grown “more flexible” over six years. He worried about losing momentum: “If we have somebody who hasn’t been a superintendent before and there’s a learning curve on that, there’s a risk of losing the momentum we built over those seven years we had Dr. Brand.”
Jennifer Bryson named Kwong and Poska. She organized her notes by the survey themes and said Poska “described himself as solutions-oriented year round,” “pushed back on that one-size-fits-all approach,” and cited his experience with the Association for Middle Level Education, equity in grading, MTSS and PBIS. She had made the reference call to Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke, who said Poska started the district’s police partnership and a police explorer program and was “very present, visible, what you see is what you get.”
Fennelly, last, named Poska and Kwong. He said Poska “was one of the few that talked about sort of engaging with the town,” the police and fire departments and town hall, described success “as a collage rather than a point in time,” and “came at it with this kind of coaching mindset.”
The chair’s count: Kwong and Poska each appeared in five members’ top two, Haynes in four.
The arguments
Golden pushed back on the police partnership: “How much does that really relate to the district’s purpose? That strikes me as someone who’s almost too outside the box.” He added that “what one might see as a direct and straightforward answer, others might take as insufficient or lacking detail, which frankly is how I felt.”
Lord said the references she called were “terrific” for all three, but that Haynes and Kwong “gave the best guidance” on specific plans.
Mercaldi asked how much weight to put on Massachusetts experience versus New Hampshire. Fennelly and Bryson answered that the finalists would not have been forwarded without appropriate or transferable licenses; Ragsdale noted Poska “does know that,” having worked in Saugus and Beverly.
Turner, reporting a reference call with Nashua’s chief operating officer, said she had “a lot of very good things to say about Mr. Poska on the budget side,” but that “his portion of the budget is really pretty small,” while praising his grant work. Ragsdale raised the gap on the other side of the ledger: Haynes and Kwong had elementary experience, and Poska “largely lacks that,” his career being middle school, high school and secondary administration. Wilmington is about to build a new elementary school and consolidate three.
On the building project question, Fennelly cited his reference call with the current Danvers superintendent, who had been an assistant principal at Beverly High while Poska led Beverly’s middle school consolidation, and who described how Poska prepared families and staff up and down the grade span. Bryson said Poska “was the only one that talked really about teaching and learning” during construction, while Kwong gave the most specific logistics.
Second round: 3-2-2, then 5-1-1
On a straw poll of first choices, taken in the same order, Mercaldi stayed with Haynes, Lord moved from Kwong to Haynes, Turner chose Kwong, and Ragsdale, Bryson and Fennelly chose Poska. Golden’s answer is not clearly audible on the recording. Fennelly announced the result as “three, two, two”: three for Poska, two for Haynes, two for Kwong. He then asked whether those who had chosen someone else could support Poska. Turner said yes. Mercaldi said yes. Golden said no. Lord said she would support whoever won “as a committee” but was unsure how to vote.
Bryson, uneasy with a split, asked the MASC consultant what else could be done. The consultant, identified on the recording as Alicia Mallon, said a 5-1-1 committee should turn to onboarding rather than more deliberation: the new superintendent would get a call the next morning from the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and should be required to join the state’s New Superintendent Induction Program, with a mentor and a cohort. She added that “all three of your candidates have superintendent certification in Massachusetts,” and that a non-unanimous vote “is not uncommon” and “is information for the incoming superintendent.”
Ragsdale said he would not try to “arm wrestle” dissenters. Lord asked what a head-to-head between Poska and Haynes would look like; Fennelly said the informal count would be four to three.
Ragsdale moved that Poska “be appointed superintendent of schools for Wilmington subject to the successful negotiation of a contract of employment.” Bryson seconded. Roll call: Turner yes, Mercaldi yes, Lord abstain, Golden no, Ragsdale yes, Bryson yes, Fennelly yes. After a recess Fennelly reported Poska had accepted. The committee unanimously named Fennelly, Bryson and Mercaldi to negotiate the contract.
What it means
Poska was appointed by a committee in which the two members who most emphasized budget detail and instructional specifics were the two who did not vote for him, and in which the deciding supporters cited directness, visibility, town engagement and a coaching temperament. The consultant’s advice, that a split vote tells the new superintendent “what they need to work on,” is now part of his first-year record: the goals he described to the committee in September include completing the induction program, which Part 4 of this series covers.
The committee approved his contract on February 11, 2026, unanimously among the five members present. The district’s own policy calls for the superintendent’s contract to be posted online; as of this week it is not, and its terms have not been made public.
The November 25, 2025 recording is here; the district’s search page is here.
