Interim Superintendent Mara leaving school district Friday

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 11/18/21

Interim Superintendent Ed Mara's last day in Bristol Warren will be Friday, Nov. 19, meaning the next person to step up as the district's head administrator will be the sixth one to do so in less than three years.

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Interim Superintendent Mara leaving school district Friday

Posted

Interim Bristol Warren superintendent Ed Mara was never expected to be at the helm for the long haul, and in fact his brief oversight of the district will officially come to an end this Friday, Nov. 19. Mara said that the school committee was “on track” with selecting a replacement, which he anticipated to happen within the next two to three weeks.

“I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy, I’ve been very happy here for the past several weeks,” Mara said during an interview on Tuesday. “I’m leaving because it’s time to go home and see my family. I’m going back for the holidays.”

Mara returned to Rhode Island in September from a brief semi-retirement in Florida to assume control of a district he once ran for six years, following the abrupt resignation of former interim superintendent Bob Hicks, which came about due to tension between Hicks and the school committee. The superintendent’s office stated earlier this week that Friday “was always intended to be [Mara’s] last day.”

However, some school committee members admitted they were taken by surprise to learn this information.
“If I was told that was always his intention, I do not remember it,” said committee member Nicky Piper.

Committee member Erin Schofield agreed. “That’s news to me,” she said, adding that she thought Mara would be on board until the new superintendent was selected.

It’s an understandable position, considering how Chairperson Marjorie McBride announced Mara as the interim superintendent.

“Dr. Mara will be on site tomorrow and as many days as needed until our search is complete,” McBride said on Sept. 21.

Looking ahead
Mara said that the biggest issues for the Bristol Warren district moving forward will be improving public relations, shoring up safety for students and staff at Mt. Hope High School, and increasing the rate of vaccination among eligible students.

“We are working to see if we can get those vaccination numbers up like in our neighboring communities. Their numbers are in the 60s, 70s and 80s, and ours are in the upper 30s. We need to appeal to the community to get those vaccinations up,” he said. “High school numbers need to go up. We want to provide some activities for them so that they can get together but every time a group of them get together we seem to have an outbreak.”

Mara had high praise for the district’s educators at the top administrative and individual school levels.

“They all work well together, the principals are fantastic and are working as hard as they can, and the teaching staff is excellent,” he said. “I wanted to recognize students and staff to let them know that we appreciate them and they do work hard and they do work well together. Hopefully, that will continue on.”

Mara said that, while recognizing there is an undeniable ideological divide that has become more apparent in recent years, he had high hopes for the district.

“This is a wonderful district. I came back because it’s a wonderful district to work in. I think that we need to work on supporting our staff and getting the support of the community,” he said. “I would like to see the division go away. I don’t know how that’s going to be accomplished, I don’t have any parting great words. But I think it’s time now for the division to be put aside and work together. Because this was a great district and it can be a great district again.”

Mara’s eventual replacement will mark the sixth superintendent within the past two and a half years (counting interims), since Mario Andrade resigned in the summer of 2019.

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