Mount Greylock Regional and the SU71 school committees are offering the position of superintendent to Medway High Principal Douglas Dias.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Retired Tri-District Superintendent Rose Ellis used to talk about the high school being the "flagship" of any school district.

So the committees looking for her permanent replacement were primed to hear some naval metaphors on Monday evening.

"My job as superintendent — I went to college at the Mass Maritime Academy, so I use nautical analogies — is I'm like an admiral of a fleet," Douglas Dias told the joint committee of Mount Greylock and Superintendency Union 71 during Monday's interview.

"The schools need to be going in the same direction. When they need something, they let me know, and I'll get it for them because the principals are the captains of their ship."

After hearing from Dias and fellow finalist Francis Baran of Woodstock, Conn., the committees said "anchors aweigh" to Dias, currently the principal at Medway High school in eastern Massachusetts and a finalist for the superintendent position in West Springfield. That school district is expected to interview candidates next week and vote on April 2.

The latter status lent a sense of urgency to Monday's proceedings, where there was strong sentiment among the 12 committee members present to offer Dias the position pending reference checks rather than waiting to do the checks and possibly site visits before choosing between the finalists.

Although Dias lacks experience above the rank of principal, he explained how his experience working with superintendents will inform his performance in the central office.

"You have some wonderful people here, and I know [Lanesborough Elementary School Principal Ellen Boshe] is retiring," Dias said after spending the day visiting all three schools in the Tri-District. "I'd spend the summer getting to know them and learning where they want me to step up and where they need me to step back. I want them to understand I'm there to help them, support them.

"A couple of times, I've pushed back against the superintendent I have now, and every time, she's stepped back and said, 'It's your building. You know what's best.' That's the kind of superintendent I want to be."

Dias also offered an anecdote from his first principal position at Canton High School, where he worked from 2007 to 2012.

"I was driving home one day the second week of school, and the phone rings in the car," Dias said. "It was the superintendent, and he asked, 'How was your day?' I was nervous. I thought something had happened I didn't know about. I thought it was a trick question."

But it turned out that his boss was calling simply to check in and see how the new principal was doing.

"I was so touched that he called me," Dias said. "I want to make sure I'm the same way when I'm a superintendent, that I care about people. I still have to hold people accountable, but I want to know how their day was."

Besides lack of superintendent experience, the other strike against Dias based solely on his resume was the fact that he had never worked in elementary education. Although all three school districts in Williamstown and Lanesborough are independent with their own school committees, the three share a central administration under the Tri-District umbrella.

Dias was asked about that gap by Richard Cohen, a Lanesborough resident and member of the Mount Greylock School Committee.

"One of the things we do at Medway is twice a week, the administrative teams meet, and we rotate that meeting through all the schools," Dias said, referring to the middle school and two elementaries in the Medway School District. "So at least twice a month, usually, I'm in the elementary school, and we don't just meet, we go into classrooms.

"For three years, I've visited dozens of elementary and middle school classrooms and given the teachers feedback. It's given me a depth of knowledge about what happens at the elementary school."

Dias advised similar "cross pollination" for the Tri-District, saying it makes for a stronger educational product at all levels.

In a discussion about budgetary priorities, Dias also dropped an elementary school-related anecdote that drew a comment later in the committee's deliberations.

"When I was [assistant principal] at Westborough High School, we had the opportunity to hire a paraprofessional, and I went to the superintendent and the principal and said, 'We don't need it. We should give it to the elementary school because they are talking about class sizes that were exorbitant,' " Dias said. "I'd rather not have the library aide. It meant one period per day the library had to close, but, you know what, our class sizes were good."

Other highlights from Dias' interview included:

On the building project Mount Greylock is undergoing with the Massachusetts School Building Authority:

He cited his experience as an assistant principal at Holliston High School during its $24 million project and at Westborough for the tail end of its $62 million expansion and renovation.

"One thing I think is exciting is the high school [building] project," he said. "It is an opportunity to bring all the constituencies together to get to know each other. Everybody in both towns is going to benefit from [a new or renovated Mount Greylock]. At the very least, they'll have a chance to talk about something that is important to kids.

"It's fun. it's exciting. That's the time to plant seeds that are going to bear fruit. Don't ignore the people who don't have kids in the schools; make sure they understand what the benefits are.

"The school on the hill is there because it should be a beacon to the community. You want a great auditorium where you can do wonderful performances not just for the school but for the community. At Medway, we have one turf field, but we're doing two more. The reason is we're getting inundated with requests to rent the fields from outside groups. Where else do you get three soccer fields within 80 feet of each other?"

On improving student success:

"It isn't just about academics," Dias said. "It's, 'Are the kids strong emotionally?' How do you make kids have grit or resilience? Those of us who are adults, you got stronger by failure.
"I tell kids that when they're in my building, I hope they have a colossal failure. They can take a bad test or struggle with not making a team or getting a part in a play and keep going. That is a successful student."

On why he chose education as a career:

Referring to his bachelor's degree in engineering and experience with General Dynamics in Groton, Conn., Dias talked about his career arc.

"I went from helping build Trident submarines, the most powerful weapon in the known universe … and went into education because I wanted to save the world," Dias said. "Not that I can do it, but I'm confident one of our kids will."

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