As Holyoke’s school district gets closer to exiting state receivership, its school committee has appointed an interim superintendent ahead of a return to local control.
Ensuring a superintendent is in place when Holyoke Public Schools exits state receivership, the committee appointed the man technically already leading the district - current Receiver/Superintendent Anthony Soto.
The vote during Monday night’s regular meeting was unanimous. While contract negotiations are pending, Soto was upbeat about the move.
"This has been a long journey - we've been all in it together, some more than others, but I've expressed right from the beginning, even in my response to the [DESE] commissioner, when we talked about my recommendation to transition to local control, I made a commitment to this body and to the Holyoke community that I want to make sure that, whatever role I play, I do everything I can to make sure that it's a strong transition,” Soto said.
A Holyoke native, Soto was appointed as receiver/superintendent by the state in 2021.
With final approvals to be given by the state’s Elementary and Secondary Education's acting commissioner, the district appears primed to exit receivership on July 1.
