Lincoln School Committee interviews Fitchburg superintendent in public finalist session

LINCOLN -- March 6, 2012, Lincoln School Committee interviews Fitchburg superintendent in first of two finalist sessions. Andre Ravenel, superintendent of the Fitchburg Public Schools, spent a full day touring the Lincoln campus and the Hanscom Air Force Base school before facing a structured 12-question interview Tuesday evening; a second finalist was scheduled for Thursday. Ravenel said he had "never had to go back to the city once for any kind of a budget situation" in seven years in Fitchburg, where the district uses the same Munis software as Lincoln. He cited a Fairfax County, Virginia accelerated-learning model as his answer for high-achieving middle schoolers and described Lincoln's two building projects, on the Lincoln campus and at Hanscom, as a "50-year investment" requiring information delivered "one bite at a time." On mandates, he agreed with staff that "initiative fatigue" was real, arguing a strategic plan with "three or five" strategies beats one with 12. The committee took no action and adjourned at 8:25 p.m.