Tiverton School Department officials have narrowed their search for a new superintendent to three candidates, as outgoing school head Peter Sanchioni’s departure looms.

Laryssa M. Doherty, Ed. D., Christopher J. Haskins, and Michael Whaley, Ed. D., were selected from a field of 24 applications, and will interview with members of the school committee in the coming weeks.

About the candidates

Doherty has 25 years of experience in education, starting as an instrumental band director and International Baccalaureate band teacher in Pine Bush, N.Y., in 2000. Since then, she has worked in education in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and is currently employed by the Center for Leadership and Educational Equity in Providence.

She holds a doctorate of educational leadership and policy studies from Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, and received her master's of education in school leadership from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Haskins started as an elementary school teacher at Seven Hills Charter School in Worcester before teaching in Central Falls and Attleboro. He has 11 years of experience as a principal in Cranston and Westerly, and was named superintendent of the Paul Cuffe Charter School in Providence in 2014.

He received his master's in education from Bridgewater State University and took coursework at Providence College.

Whaley started as a high school science teacher in the Bristol-Warren Regional School District in 2002, before eventually becoming the principal of Burrillville High School from 2010 to 2022. He has served as assistant superintendent of West Warwick Public Schools since 2022.

Whaley received his doctorate of education from Johnson and Wales University and completed coursework at Central Connecticut State University.

The process

Tiverton School Department offficials have been working with the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) in the search for the new superintendent. Seven candidates were interviewed by a screening committee last month.

School committee chairwoman Diane Farnworth said public interviews will take place on Wednesday, June 4, before the school committee meets in executive session the next day to hold further discussions.

When asked on the timeline for naming a superintendent, Farnwoth said, “My hope is by the end of next week, but I can’t say that with certainty,” adding that no decision will be made until the school committee has 100 percent certainty they agree on who the next superintendent should be.