Superintendent finally chosen, but process was a rocky road

Matthew Malone, superintendent in Swampscott since 2006, will succeed Basan “Buzz’’ Nembirkow a month earlier than expected, upon being released by his school committee. Malone said he hopes to start full time late next month, when Nembirkow retires.

In the interim, longtime administrator John Jerome, a superintendent finalist and executive director of teaching and learning for grades 6 through 8, has been named temporary deputy superintendent.

Malone is moving from a district with 2,200 children to one that is seven times larger. He will earn a base salary of $195,000 and, according to his five-year contract, qualify for 4-percent raises every year based on performance.

He is also required to move to Brockton within a year. Previously, Malone held teaching and leadership positions in Boston and San Diego. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Suffolk University, and a master’s degree in secondary education and a doctorate in educational administration from Boston College.

“I’ve always watched Brockton from a distance,’’ said Malone, who with his wife, Dana, has a son, Salvatore, 6, and daughter, Ava, 3. “It’s a city on the move, a school system that is the best urban system in the state. Over the last eight months I saw that as an opportunity.’’

Patty Joyce, a member of both the school and screening committees, praised Nembirkow for the city district’s metamorphosis during his tenure: “He’s a really great guy, and he led the school district in a positive direction with great vision.’’

Malone now has the ability and commitment to carry that progress forward, she said.

But Brockton being Brockton, even picking Malone became explosive for the local School Committee, headed by Mayor James Harrington, which was accused, then cleared, of violating the state’s Open Meeting Law during deliberations over the months.

The panel was also criticized for not choosing internal candidates like Jerome or Kathleen Smith, the district’s director of Community Schools and Afterschool Programs.

“It was a prime example of Murphy’s Law,’’ said Richard Bath, School Committee vice chairman. “If things could go wrong, they went wrong.’’

Bath didn’t back Malone because he wanted a “zero transition’’ in the learning curve and more experience than Malone’s 15 years. He also wanted the salary set $20,000 lower, at $175,000.

“It’s not sitting well in Brockton, I can tell you that,’’ said Bath. “But now that he has been hired, I telephoned him immediately. I said, ‘It wasn’t about you.’ ’’

Bath said people want a visible superintendent, not like Nembirkow, who he said kept a condo in Brockton, had his official residence in Chicopee, and rarely appeared publicly.

“We’re on a roll, ranked number one in a Harvard study in our achievement gap,’’ Bath said. “I want to see that maintained. Matt has got to get out in the community and be a real cheerleader.’’

Malone said he plans to launch a listening tour immediately.

“The job is what it is - it never stops,’’ he said. “It’s about being open and accountable and willing to get out there.’’

Nembirkow, meanwhile, says he’s proud to leave Brockton schools better than he found them. But it came by locking horns with city and school officials to cleanse a system he said was awash in nepotism and old-style attitudes.

“The city’s leadership would like things to be like they were in the 1950s, with Ozzie and Harriet,’’ he said. “But it’s a different world. Now the shakeup has been done, and the new guy can come in and pick it up.’’

Nembirkow said he chose to end his career in Brockton instead of a “chi-chi’’ suburban district because he can relate to its students.

After spending his childhood in a refugee camp in southern Russia, he said, he learned English upon emigration.

“I wanted to give advantages to kids who don’t get any. That’s my driving philosophy,’’ Nembirkow said.

As the transition nears, some still have concerns. Tim Sullivan, Brockton Education Association president, pointed out that Malone saw a no-confidence vote from his current district’s teachers. Malone, as well as several other finalists for the job, had clashed with unions in their systems.

Among his priorities, Malone said, he wants to make sure the teaching staff is more diverse, to reflect the student body; he called the district’s shortage of minority educators “palpable.’’

Sixty-nine percent of the students in the Brockton Public Schools are minorities, while 14 percent of the district’s 1,066 teachers are minorities.

“There’s a lot to work on,’’ said Malone. “I’m going to earn every dollar. I want to learn as much as possible, and move the agenda forward as a model for the country. That’s my goal for the next five years.’’

Like Nembirkow, Malone said a superintendent must make decisions in the best interests of children, not adults, “and people will either love you or hate you.’’

Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at mmbolton1@ verizon.net.