Less than a year after regaining control of its own school district, the school committee in Holyoke, Mass., marked a new milestone Thursday night.
Following a monthslong search, committee members selected a new, permanent superintendent. As WAMC reports, the candidate is more than familiar with both the city and the school district’s struggles.
It didn’t take long for Holyoke Assistant Superintendent Jacqueline Glasheen to say “yes” to leading the district of 4,800 students. During Thursday night’s meeting, Glasheen seemed to conditionally accept the offer soon after the committee voted to move forward with her.
“Upon our brief conversation, Ms. Glasheen is excited and has accepted, pending negotiations of the contract,” Vice Chair Yadilette Rivera-Colón said Thursday night after returning from a post-vote recess.
Glasheen is in the crowd for tonight's school committee vote (another candidate was being interviewed and the final vote was on the docket). She says, pending negotiations, she is a "yes" on accepting the role. pic.twitter.com/ZV7kGMt352
— James Paleologopoulos (@WAMC_J_Paleo) February 13, 2026
The news came during the final night of finalist interviews held at Holyoke High School North. Following a monthslong search, three candidates ended up before the school committee, which recently regained its ability to interview and pick a new superintendent.
Hiring a district leader was one of several powers the city got back last year after the district’s 10-year stint under state control ended. Originally placed under receivership due to chronic underperformance in 2015, Holyoke Public Schools improved on multiple fronts since then, becoming the first Massachusetts school district to ever exit receivership.
The exit was partly contingent on the school committee preparing itself for the return of local control, with picking a non-state-appointed superintendent being one of their first big goals.
Committee Vice Chair: Selected candidate offers familiarity and district know-how
Rivera-Colón told WAMC of all the finalists up for a vote, Glasheen had the most to offer.
“She already knows what we're doing well, what we're not doing well… and having that knowledge, having the relationships already built, is going to [mean] a relatively smoother transition,” she said. “One of the things we were cognizant about while making a decision was also stability. This decision is going to provide that, and we are confident that we can accomplish it together.”
According to the district, the superintendent-elect has worked in Holyoke schools since at least 1992. Glasheen first started as a special education teacher, eventually becoming an assistant principal and principal at several schools before becoming the district’s executive director of school leadership in 2021.
As Holyoke’s receivership exit neared, Glasheen was elevated to assistant superintendent in May 2025, working closely with interim superintendent Anthony Soto.
Soto, who was previously a state-appointed superintendent/receiver, did not seek the permanent position. According to the HPS website, he “plans to remain at Holyoke Public Schools as chief of finance and operations.”
Speaking with WAMC, Glasheen praised Soto’s work, which included implementing later iterations of the district’s turnaround plan. She says, for now, the plan is to continue that work.
“My immediate thought is ‘stay the course,’ and I’ve got to listen and learn,” she told WAMC soon after the school committee meeting ended. “We have a lot of repair to do in this community. People have felt all types of ways about receivership, and I think it's a moment in time where we need to rally together again in service of our kids. So, I'm going to spend the next six months listening and learning and, hopefully, with the help of a great central office team and the school committee, [I] will make a strategic plan to move us forward."
Improving chronic absenteeism, academic performance and more remain on to-do list
As the superintendent-elect, members of the school committee and others noted, the district still has its work cut out for it.
While high school graduation rates recently hit 77.1% – one of the highest rates since “the state began reporting cohort-based rates in 2006” – Soto has stated chronic absenteeism continues to be a problem.
In terms of academic achievement, the district is also lagging well-behind state averages, only partially-meeting expectations in all subject matters.
The district also faces ongoing contract negotiations with the Holyoke Teachers Association. For many educators, it’s a thorny topic. The district agreed to multiple “exit assurances” as state control ended, cementing collective bargaining restrictions for a two-year period.
Declared unfair by the union’s members, the restrictions come as HPS continues to see high turnover rates – as high as 25-30 percent, says eighth-grade social studies teacher Jacob Bilsky.
“Kids need consistent teachers in front of them, year-to-year,” the HTA membership coordinator told WAMC Thursday, ahead of the committee’s candidate selection. “They need relationships with their teachers that improve their education, keep them regulated in the classroom… I would hope to see a superintendent that keeps good teachers here so that Holyoke youth are being educated by the best professionals they can, and they're not faced with a revolving door.”
Other candidates seeking the Holyoke superintendent role included Annie Azarloza, an interim superintendent working in upstate New Hampshire, who also served as an administrator in Worcester, Massachusetts. Thursday night also featured Azarloza going before the school committee as the final interviewee.
Carmen Melendez Quintero, the executive director of inclusive education at Boston Public Schools, was another finalist. Both candidates received one vote each, while eight of the 10 committee members opted for Glasheen.
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Some audio for this story was provided by Holyoke Media.
